On October 22, US President Donald Trump said he expected to reach agreements with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders met in South Korea next week. These deals could range from China's resumption of US soybean purchases to limits on nuclear weapons.
Speaking at the Oil Department, Mr. Trump said he also plans to discuss China's purchase of Russian oil and how to end the conflict in Ukraine. Mr. Trump expressed his confidence that Mr. Tap Can Binh has changed his thinking about the conflict in Ukraine and will be willing to discuss the end of the conflict.
President Trump's optimistic comments contrasted completely with the harsher statements from his top trade and financial officials. Finance Minister Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer arrived in Asia on October 22 to prepare for a meeting between the two leaders, the first meeting of Mr Trump's second term.
The task of these two officials is to ease tensions related to China's measures to control rare earth exports. Both sides emphasized that the US needs to rebalance trade with China.
Meanwhile, Trump underlined the importance of China's rare earth control measures, calling them just "a disruption" and describing the new tariffs as an issue that needs more attention.
Trade tensions between the world's two largest economies have rebounded in recent weeks after months of relative stagnation. Trump has announced the imposition of an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods - expected to take effect on November 1 - after China announced export control measures for almost all rare earths.
Under pressure from American farmers - who are struggling with a sharp decline in soybean orders from China, Mr. Trump said he expects to reach some agreements with Mr. Xi Jinping on this issue.
He also said that a nuclear weapons deal was possible. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously mentioned the possibility of a bilateral nuclear arms cut and China could be included in that effort.
In contrast to the President's optimism, Finance Minister Bessent has been more reserved. He described the upcoming US-China meeting as just a "side exchange", perhaps to avoid setting too high expectations.
"I hope we can resolve the issues by the end of this week, so that the two leaders can start the meeting more smoothly," he said.
