The ever-effusive Donald Trump was just that when assessing his meeting with China’s Xi Jinping in remarks to reporters on Air Force One on his return from South Korea.
The president had earlier gathered with his Chinese counterpart in Busan, South Korea, for a 90-minute meeting. which Trump called “amazing” and declared: “Overall, I guess on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12.”
Trump said a deal for China to buy U.S. soybeans was in the works, along with a loosening of restrictions on the purchase by the U.S. of rare earth minerals from China.
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Though I didn’t hear the president say so on the clip I saw from Air Force One, the BBC is reporting that Trump agreed that the U.S. would act as a “referee” in the sale of semiconductor chips to China from Nvidia.
In TACO (“Trump Always Chickens Out”) mode, the president also declared an immediate cut to tariffs on Chinese goods coming into America. The tariff reduction extended even to import restrictions on products containing fentanyl, a chemical responsible for 100,000 American deaths a year.
Trump justified the fentanyl tariff reduction by saying “they’re [the Chinese] taking strong action” in controlling exports of the substance. But they’ve been promising that consistently since the presidency of Barack Obama.
Overall, Chinese tariffs are expected to fall from 57 percent to 47 percent.
The Chinese, however, have yet to confirm these details. All the People’s Republic would say is that the two sides had “reached a consensus on resolving” certain economic and trade issues.
Trump said the issue of Taiwan independence was not discussed, but that he urged Xi to help end the conflict in Ukraine. China has been supporting and openly aiding Russia in that conflict.
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