As Trump flew back to Washington, he said on social media that Xi had authorized purchases of “massive amounts” of soybeans and other American agricultural products.

 

Qasim Nauman

Oct. 30, 2025, 4:37 a.m. ET1 minute ago

Qasim Nauman

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/28/us/trump-news-south-korea

 

As Trump flew back to Washington, he said on social media that Xi had authorized purchases of “massive amounts” of soybeans and other American agricultural products. “Our Farmers will be very happy!” Trump wrote. China’s Commerce Ministry had said the two sides reached a consensus in South Korea on “expanding agricultural trade” and other issues, but did not provide details.

 

Updated

Oct. 30, 2025, 3:41 a.m. ET56 minutes ago

Katie Rogers Erica L. Green Daisuke Wakabayashi and Lily Kuo

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/28/us/trump-news-south-korea

 

Here’s the latest.

President Trump said on Thursday that China had agreed to postpone for a year strict new controls on its supply of critical rare earth metals, potentially relieving a major pressure point that has caused alarm in global supply chains.

 

Separately, Mr. Trump said he would cut in half the 20 percent tariffs he had imposed on Chinese goods to pressure China to do more to control fentanyl trafficking. The reduction announced on Thursday brings overall tariffs on Chinese goods to around 47 percent from 57 percent, he said.

 

Mr. Trump made the announcement as he flew back to Washington after a summit meeting with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, that had been expected to focus on trade issues but was overshadowed by Mr. Trump’s announcement that the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing after more than three decades.

 

While Mr. Trump greeted Mr. Xi warmly ahead of their roughly 90-minute meeting at a military base in South Korea, the mood was tenser than it had been when he met the leaders of Japan, South Korea and Malaysia earlier on his trip. Neither man mentioned nuclear weapons or testing.

 

The Chinese government’s readout of their meeting did not mention any new trade agreements. The readout said that Mr. Xi had told Mr. Trump that both leaders should avoid the “vicious cycle of mutual retaliation.” It also said Mr. Trump would travel to China next year and that he had invited Mr. Xi to the United States.

 

China’s Commerce Ministry later said that the two sides had agreed on a one-year extension to a truce they had put in place earlier this year after a flurry of tit-for-tat escalations drove up tariffs on each other’s imports to more than 100 percent.

 

Here’s what else to know:

 

Trump’s threat: Mr. Trump’s announcement on weapons testing did not provide details or clarify if he meant detonating nuclear warheads. He later suggested that his nuclear announcement was not related to China, which is overseeing a major buildup of nuclear weapons but has not tested one since 1996. Read more ›

 

Tariffs background: The U.S. imposed 30 percent tariffs on almost all American imports from China, partly to protest China’s shipments of chemicals used to make fentanyl. Read more ›