BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump in South Korea’s Busan on Thursday (Oct 30).
They will exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Trump began the final leg of his Asia trip in South Korea on Wednesday, optimistic about striking a trade war truce with Xi and advancing an unresolved tariff deal with South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung.
Arriving from Tokyo hours after North Korea test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile, Trump met Lee on Wednesday in Gyeongju, a sleepy South Korean town hosting this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea earlier, Trump dismissed the North Korea missile test and said he was squarely focused on his meeting with the leader of the world’s second-largest economy.
“The relationship with China is very good. So I think we’re going to have a very good outcome for our country and for the world, actually,” Trump said.
He expects to reduce US tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to curb exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals, he added. The US could halve the 20 per cent levies on Chinese goods it currently charges in retaliation for the export of such chemicals, the Wall Street Journal reported.
SOUTH KOREA TRADE TALKS STRUGGLE
Addressing a summit of APEC CEOs in Gyeongju before his meeting with Lee, Trump said a trade deal with South Korea would be finalised “very soon”, though officials on both sides have been downplaying the prospect of a breakthrough this week.
The two allies announced a deal in late July under which South Korea would avoid the worst of the tariffs by agreeing to pump US$350 billion of new investments into the United States. But talks over the structure of those investments have been deadlocked.
Meeting Lee at the nearby National Museum, Trump was presented with a gold crown and the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, the country’s highest decoration, worn as an elaborate sash and medal.
“I’d like to wear it right now,” Trump quipped.
At the start of the working lunch, which included a “golden dessert”, Lee pledged to spend more on defence – trying to head off a common bugbear of Trump’s that allies are not pulling their weight.
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