Takeaways: Trump touts tenuous deals on tariffs, rare earths and soybeans

WASHINGTON — What started with Democrats warning about “empty promises and illusory wins” grew chaotic as U.S. and Chinese aides gestured animatedly as they zipped around a room at a South Korean military base. It all ended with President Donald Trump declaring victory on multiple issues as he cracked jokes with reporters on Air Force One.

The 79-year-old U.S. president on Thursday quipped about heavy turbulence on his flight home from a high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan. He smiled as he gripped a door frame, joking that the choppy air would give critics fodder to claim “he’s got the shakes.” He told reporters the mini-summit produced an “outstanding group of decisions.”

“A lot of decisions were made too. There wasn’t too much left out there,” he said aboard the executive 747 airliner. “There’s a lot of … different things, many of them very important.”

That included, after the two economic powerhouses had squabbled over tariff rates most of the year, Trump saying he would cut Beijing’s import duties in half.

Trump on Wednesday had appeared to tamp down expectations, saying he expected the Xi mini-summit to produce an outcome he could live with.

“We’ve been talking a lot over the last month, and I think we’re going to have something that’s going to be very, very satisfactory to China and to us,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a very good meeting.”

Ahead of the summit, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and 11 other Senate Democrats sent a letter to Trump urging him to “not to negotiate away America and our allies’ national security.” Trump’s meeting with Xi also came as a new Economist/YouGov poll showed his job approval rating dropping to 39%, with 58% disapproving.

Here are a few takeaways from Thursday’s meeting between the two global leaders:

Soybean thaw

American farmers have been hit hard by a double-whammy of Trump 2.0 policies — his tariffs on most of the globe and his mass deportation program, which has swept up agricultural workers.

Some of those farmers could soon receive some much-needed help. Trump announced that Xi had agreed to lift his ban on American-grown soybeans.

“We’re in agreement on so many elements, large amounts, tremendous amounts of the soybeans and other farm products are going to be purchased immediately,”the president said after the mini-summit. He was not specific about how much could be headed for China but said the agreement called for “very large quantities of soybeans.”

Prior to the meeting, Xi had tied resuming large-scale soybean buys to Trump lowering tariffs he slapped on Chinese goods over fentanyl flows into the United States. To that end, Trump told reporters that “on fentanyl, we agreed that [Xi] was going to work very hard to stop the flow.”

“It’s a very complex subject,” Trump said. “But he’s going to work very hard on it. … And, I think, you’re going to see some real action taken.”

Ahead of the meeting, Democrats on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Wednesday criticized some of Trump’s trade policies — including the soybean situation.

“Trump’s trade wars have sold out American farmers. Trump’s tariffs have triggered Chinese retaliation that has decimated American farmers,” states a summary of a report released by the office of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the panel’s ranking member. “China is on track to purchase $10 billion less in U.S. soybeans this year compared to last year. Trump’s tariffs have also raised costs on farm inputs like fertilizer and equipment, squeezing farmers from both sides.”

Tariffs tumble

The Xi promise that appeared to lead to Trump slashing fentanyl-related tariffs to 10% focused on so-called precursor chemicals that the U.S. side contends are being used to make the highly-addictive and lethal drug.

“I put a 20% tariff on China because of the fentanyl that was coming in, which is a big tariff,” Trump said. “And based on the statements today, I reduced it by 10% — so it’s 10% instead of 20%, effective immediately.”

The issue is personal for Trump. His late older brother Fred died from a heart attack at age 42 that was exacerbated by substance abuse. The fentanyl-tariff agreement could put Trump’s boasts of a close working relationship with Xi to the test — with a possible restoration of a higher tariff rate if fentanyl and precursor chemical flows do not slow.

“I believe he’s going to work very hard to stop the death that’s coming in,” Trump said. “But again, it’s complex because of what fentanyl is, what the precursors do. So I think you’re going to see a big difference.”

The lower import fees could bring some much-needed good news for U.S. businesses and consumers amid signs of a sluggish economy. The Senate Banking Democrats’ report had pinned economic heartburn on Trump’s trade policies.

“Trump’s trade wars have imposed significant costs on American consumers and businesses. Since Trump’s April 2nd announcement of sweeping global tariffs on ‘Liberation Day,’ inflation has risen faster than it did during the same period last year, and the U.S. economy has added fewer than 27,000 jobs per month,” the Democrats’ summary reads. “Manufacturing employment has contracted for four straight months – the longest monthly streak of losses since early 2020.”

Former Biden-era U.S. ambassador to China Nicholas Burns took to X to assess the tariff pact as “far from a comprehensive trade deal.”

“Result of the Trump-Xi Meeting: A truce in a still simmering trade war. Positive results on U.S. ag sales and Fentanyl,” he said.

Rare earths resolution

Trump also declared victory — for now, at least — on securing an agreement from Xi to lift restrictions on its world-leading supply of rare earth minerals.

The crucial minerals are used in key components of everything from smart phones to fighter jets. Trump, in his signature showman form, cast that part of the Busan deal as benefiting not just the U.S., but the whole world.

“All of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world. … You could really say what this was, a worldwide situation, not just the U.S. situation,” he said of the ripple waves set off by the Chinese restrictions.

“There’s no roadblock at all on rare earth,” he said. “That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.”

Trump described the agreement as a “one-year deal that will, I think, be very routinely extended as time goes on.”

He appeared to tell reporters all the items agreed to on Thursday would be revisited by both sides after one year.

Mar-a-Lago bound?

Trump appears headed Friday for a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in south Florida, with the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this week posting a VIP notice for the area.

Xi could be headed there sometime next year, while Trump floated what would be a historic trip to China next spring.

“I’ll be going to China in April, and he’ll be coming here sometime after that,” Trump told reporters. “Whether it’s in Florida, Palm Beach or Washington, D.C.”

A Trump-Xi summit in Washington would create a massive security effort by the U.S. Secret Service, Washington Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Park Service and other agencies. A Mar-a-Lago meeting on the sprawling Florida estate would offer a more contained setting.

Trump was the last sitting American president to visit China, going to Beijing to meet with Xi in November 2017. The two planned visits are far from set in stone, with all recent U.S. presidents, including Trump, having touted agreements with Xi — only to become frustrated by a perceived lack of follow-through.