Trump says he’s confident of a deal ahead of Xi meeting : NPR

GYEONJU, SOUTH KOREA — President Trump on Wednesday confidently predicted an agreement with China's leader at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum after a period of trade tensions that threatened to escalate.

“I think we'll get a deal, I think it'll be a good deal for both sides, and it's a really great outcome,” Trump said at a lunch with APEC business executives in the southern city of Gyeongju.

“It’s better than struggling and going through all sorts of problems,” he added ahead of Thursday’s meeting with President Xi Jinping. “There's no reason for that.”

Trump has said he may cut tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing's commitment to curb exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl.

“I expect to bring that number down because I believe they will help us deal with the fentanyl situation,” Trump told reporters on his way to Gyeongju. “They will do what they can.”

The US is now imposing a 20% tariff on Chinese imports, in addition to other tariffs, because the US government believes China has not done enough to restrict exports of the fentanyl precursor.

In response, Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs on American soybeans. U.S. and Chinese economic officials met over the weekend in Malaysia to hammer out the framework of a trade agreement that would include China resuming purchases of U.S. soybeans.

The agreement will also include a delay in China's restrictions on rare earth metals exports, while the US will delay a 100% increase in tariffs.

Both Beijing and Washington trade accusations that the other's economic coercion is harming the global economy.

“It's China against the world,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this month of China's controls on rare earth metals exports. “They have a bazooka aimed at the supply chains and industrial base of the entire free world, and we will not achieve that,” he said.

“The US has raised tariffs so much that it has brought globalization to the brink of collapse,” says Zhu Feng, dean of the department of international studies at Nanjing University in China.

He notes that in addition to tariffs, the U.S. this month raised port charges on Chinese-owned or operated ships calling at U.S. ports. He proposed introducing controls on software exports from the United States to China.

And it proposed banning Chinese carriers flying to and from the United States from flying through Russian airspace. Chinese airlines have a cost advantage because Russia allows Chinese carriers to transit through its airspace over American ones.

“You can force China to accept tariff increases. But you can't keep pushing China so hard,” he says. “China's vindictiveness is meant to show China and the world that the US can't just keep us in the corner,” Zhu adds.

Trump also mentioned that he wants to discuss nuclear arms control with Xi Jinping and possibly include China in US-Russian nuclear arms control negotiations.

Despite rumors that Trump might try to restart nuclear talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during this trip, the issue appears to be off the table for now.

Trump told South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the start of bilateral talks that talks with Xi Jinping were his main goal. “We look forward to meeting him [Xi]and that was really our goal during this visit.”

Trump told Lee that he knew the two Koreas technically remained at war and assured Lee that “we'll see what we can do to fix the situation. You know I’m going to work really hard on it.”

During Trump's visit to South Korea, Pyongyang said it had successfully tested a cruise missile.