Trump and Xi to Hold High-Stakes Meeting in South Korea amid Escalating Trade Tensions
The White House has confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30 in South Korea, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The encounter will mark the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Trump’s return to office.
The meeting, which had been in the works for weeks, was briefly in doubt as U.S.–China tensions flared over trade and technology. The White House said the bilateral talks would take place in Gyeongju, where the APEC summit runs from October 31 to November 1.
“I’ll be meeting with President Xi of China. We have a pretty long meeting scheduled,” Trump told reporters earlier. “We can work out a lot of our doubts and questions—and our tremendous assets—together. I think something will work out. We have a very good relationship, but that will be a big one.”
The meeting comes at a critical moment. Trump has threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports beginning in November unless Beijing rolls back its restrictions on rare earth exports—materials crucial to the production of electric vehicles, smartphones, and military hardware.
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao expressed cautious optimism on Friday, saying previous negotiations proved it was “entirely possible to find solutions to each other’s concerns” and to “promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development” of bilateral trade relations.
During his trip, Trump will also meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and attend a working dinner for regional leaders. His broader Asian tour includes a stop in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, where he will also meet with leaders from Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea—including Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Trump and Xi have spoken three times this year, most recently in September, discussing the fate of TikTok’s U.S. operations. Their last in-person meeting took place in 2019, during Trump’s first term.
Trump has repeatedly said that direct communication with Xi is the most effective way to address disputes over trade, tariffs, fentanyl trafficking, and other contentious issues. The two powers have maintained a fragile trade ceasefire since May, which has so far averted a new round of sweeping tariffs.
However, relations worsened in October when China tightened export controls on rare earth elements, prompting Trump to accuse Beijing of trying to hold the world “captive” and becoming “very hostile.” The move nearly led him to cancel the upcoming meeting altogether.
China remains the dominant global supplier of rare earth minerals and other critical materials, which are essential to the production of modern electronics, vehicles, and defense systems—a strategic leverage point that now sits at the center of the renewed U.S.–China rivalry.
