TOKYO, JAPAN – OCTOBER 27: US President Donald Trump deplanes from Air Force One upon arrival at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, October 27, 2025.
Takashi Aoyama | Getty Images News | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump said he expects to lower fentanyl tariffs on China ahead of his much-anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea this week.
He told reporters Wednesday on Air Force One that fentanyl entering the United States and “farmers” would be among the topics he planned to discuss with President Xi on Thursday.
Asked if a one-year suspension of China’s rare earth export restrictions would be enough to wring further concessions from the United States, Trump said: “We haven’t talked about the timing yet, but we’re going to work something out.”
The delicate easing of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which includes lower tariffs on each other’s goods, is set to expire on November 10th unless they can agree to extend it again. President Trump also threatened to impose 100% tariffs on China starting November 1st.
President Trump’s comments came in the wake of a report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that said the United States could cut in half the 20% fentanyl tariffs on Chinese exports in exchange for Beijing cracking down on exports of the chemicals used to make fentanyl.
If the U.S. government lowers fentanyl tariffs on Chinese goods to 10%, the average tariff on most Chinese imports would be about 45%, compared to about 55% currently.
Regarding whether Taiwan will be on the agenda, President Trump said, “I don’t even know if I’m going to talk about Taiwan. I might want to ask about Taiwan. I don’t really hear about that.”
In response to a question about exports of Nvidia’s Blackwell chips to China, President Trump said, “I think we’ll talk to President Xi about that.”
The meeting between the two leaders came amid heightened bilateral tensions in recent weeks, with Beijing tightening restrictions on rare earth exports and Washington retaliating with port fees on Chinese ships and threatening software-related export restrictions.
President Trump is scheduled to meet with President Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, marking their first direct meeting since returning to office in January. In a brief statement last Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry announced that President Xi would pay a state visit to South Korea from October 30 to November 1, but made no mention of a meeting with President Trump.
On Wednesday, President Trump said the relationship with China was “very good” and that he would “have a great meeting with Mr. Xi of China.” The US president began a whirlwind tour of Asia on Sunday, signing a flurry of trade and mineral deals with Southeast Asian leaders and, most recently, with Japan.
Neo Wang, China strategist at Evercore ISI, said possible outcomes of the Trump-Xi meeting include guarantees that Beijing will secure access to U.S. rare earth items under export control measures, the purchase of a Boeing plane, approval of TikTok’s sale of its U.S. operations, and further efforts to curb fentanyl leaks.
In return, the U.S. may offer to cut fentanyl-related duties by 10 percentage points starting Nov. 10 as part of a renewed tariff truce, ease export restrictions on certain semiconductor equipment and AI chips, and remove the threat of 100% tariffs, Wang said.
“We hope that the Chinese government will facilitate President Trump’s reductions in fentanyl tariffs on China and provide President Trump with a solution to the fentanyl impasse that will take effect no later than November 10, including through new direct commitments with President Xi,” Wang added.
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