\n<\/p>\n
United States President Donald Trump expects \u201ca lot of problems\u201d will be solved between Washington and Beijing when he meets China\u2019s President Xi Jinping in South Korea for a high-stakes meeting on Thursday, amid growing trade tensions between the two.<\/p>\n
Relations between the two world powers have been strained in recent years, with Washington and Beijing imposing tit-for-tat trade tariffs topping 100 percent against each other this year, the US restricting its exports of semiconductors vital for artificial intelligence (AI) development and Beijing restricting exports of critical rare-earth metals which are vital for the defence industry and also the development of AI, among other issues.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Officials from Washington and Beijing have been locked in trade talks since August to de-escalate trade tensions, and they also came up with a framework for a trade deal during meetings in Malaysia over the weekend.<\/p>\n On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Wednesday, Trump said an expected trade deal between China and the US would be good for both countries and \u201csomething very exciting for everybody\u201d.<\/p>\n But only a meeting between Trump and Xi can confirm if a trade deal is really in the making. According to analysts, expectations of the two world powers\u2019 ability to reset their relationship and agree to any deal at this meeting are low.<\/p>\n Trump is scheduled to meet Xi on Thursday in the port city of Busan in southeastern South Korea. The meeting is expected to start at 10am local time (01:00 GMT).<\/p>\n It will be the first time the leaders have met in person since Trump returned to the White House in January. The US president last met Xi in 2019, during Trump\u2019s first term, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Osaka, Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re going to have a great meeting with President Xi of China, and a lot of problems are going to be solved,\u201d Trump told journalists on Wednesday on Air Force One while en route to South Korea.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the meeting between Xi and Trump in a statement<\/a> and said the leaders \u201cwill exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest\u201d.<\/p>\n Discussions are likely to cover:<\/p>\n Alejandro Reyes, adjunct professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong, told Al Jazeera that at this meeting, both sides will want to steady an uneasy rivalry \u2013 but for different reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Washington, the goal is to show that its tough line on China has delivered results. The Trump team is walking into this summit after signing trade pacts with Malaysia, Cambodia and Japan that link market access directly to national security cooperation. These deals require America\u2019s partners to align with US export controls and supply-chain rules \u2013 essentially making \u2018economic security\u2019 a shared obligation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Beijing, the priority is to project calm and endurance. The meeting comes just after the fourth plenum, which reaffirmed Chinese leader Xi Jinping\u2019s authority and set the direction for the next five-year plan. China\u2019s message is that it has weathered Western pressure and is back to focusing on growth and domestic stability,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n But discussions on disputes over trade tariffs, critical rare-earth metals, AI technology and geopolitical strategies, the issues that most define the current relationship between the US and China, according to Reyes, are not going to be easy to resolve.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mistrust is structural now \u2013 it\u2019s built into how both countries think about power and security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A key issue for the Trump administration is stopping the illegal flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl \u2013 a powerful synthetic opiate which is 50 times more potent than heroin \u2013 from China to the US. In February, Trump slapped a 20 percent trade tariff on all imports from China, citing Beijing\u2019s lack of effort in curbing the flow of the drug into the US.<\/p>\n In a media briefing note sent to Al Jazeera by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Bonnie Glaser, managing director of GMF\u2019s Indo-Pacific programme, said the fentanyl trade has been \u201ca really contentious issue between the US and China\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what I have heard, a criminal money-laundering cooperation supports the fentanyl trade, and this is where China is willing to cooperate, in a way where it will have minimum negative impact on their domestic situation,\u201d she said at a briefing held in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Late on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that during Thursday\u2019s meeting, \u201cChina is expected to commit to more controls on the export of so-called precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.\u201d The newspaper added that if this agreement is reached, Trump would reduce the tariffs imposed because of fentanyl by as much as 10 percent.<\/p>\n Following the fentanyl-related tariffs, in March, China imposed a 15 percent tariff on a range of US farm exports in retaliation, triggering a tit-for-tat tariff war.<\/p>\n In April, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent, prompting China to hit back with 125 percent tariffs of its own.<\/p>\n Washington and Beijing later cut tariffs to 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively, in May, and agreed to a 90-day truce in August for trade talks. The truce has been extended twice, but despite repeated talks, a trade agreement has not been reached.<\/p>\n China has restricted exports of 12 critical rare-earth metals this year, as well as of the machinery needed to refine these metals, citing security reasons. Beijing also said its restrictions were in response to US restrictions on the Chinese maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries.<\/p>\n The first seven metals to be restricted were announced in April, while the remaining five were announced on October 10. These metals are crucial for the defence industry and for developing AI technology.<\/p>\n In October, Trump responded by threatening to impose 100 percent tariffs on China from November 1, citing Beijing\u2019s strict export controls on critical rare earths as the reason for the tariffs.<\/p>\n Trump added that the US would also impose export controls on \u201cany and all critical software\u201d.<\/p>\n Reyes noted that while the US wants guaranteed access to rare earths and battery materials, it signed a new agreement with Japan and trade clauses with Malaysia this week, which aim to reduce the US dependence on China for these. \u201cBeijing sees this as an effort to contain its influence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent told many US media outlets this week that he expected China to defer its restrictions on rare earths and that Trump\u2019s 100 percent tariff threat was \u201ceffectively off the table\u201d.<\/p>\n Bessent added that the Chinese side would agree to increase purchases of US-grown soya beans.<\/p>\n Dylan Loh, associate professor in public policy and global affairs at Nanyang Technological University, said he anticipates some positive movement on solving these trade disputes but does not believe the fundamental economic tension between the US and China will be resolved at the meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe competition and mistrust go beyond simply economics,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cBut the problems can be managed and must be managed well. It requires political capital and the ability to move beyond zero-sum thinking.\u201d<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
When are the two leaders meeting?<\/h2>\n
What will Trump and Xi talk about?<\/h2>\n
\n
What are the sticking points?<\/h2>\n
Fentanyl<\/h3>\n
Trade tariffs<\/h3>\n
Rare-earth metals and soya beans<\/h3>\n
Technology and TikTok<\/h3>\n