U.S. President Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Rutte in Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he expected to reach a series of agreements with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet in South Korea next week, ranging from the resumption of Chinese soybean imports to potential limits on nuclear weapons.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he planned to raise Beijing’s purchases of Russian oil and discuss ways to bring an end to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, now entering its third year.

“I think we’ll make a deal,” Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, adding that he believed Xi’s attitude towards the conflict in Ukraine had shifted and that he would now be open to a discussion on ending it. “He would now like — I’m not sure that he did at the beginning — he would now like that war to end,” Trump remarked.

Trump’s tone contrasted with the firmer stance taken by his top trade negotiator and treasury chief, who were both travelling to Asia on Wednesday to help ensure his meeting with Xi — the first of his second term — proceeds as planned.

The president downplayed China’s export restrictions on rare earth magnets, which had unsettled markets, describing them as “a disturbance” and insisting that tariffs were “a more powerful” economic lever.

Facing pressure from U.S. farmers struggling with reduced Chinese demand for soybeans, Trump said he anticipated progress on restoring agricultural trade. He also suggested that a nuclear arms agreement might be within reach, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had raised the possibility of bilateral nuclear de-escalation talks, and that China could be included in those efforts.

Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing — the world’s two largest economies — have intensified in recent weeks following a period of relative calm. Trump has imposed additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods set to take effect on 1 November, after Beijing announced export controls on nearly all rare earth materials.

Senior U.S. officials head to Asia

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer departed for Malaysia to address tensions over China’s rare earth export curbs, as officials in Washington prepared new retaliatory measures should negotiations fail.

According to Reuters, the Trump administration is also considering restricting a broad range of software-enabled exports to China — including laptops and jet engines — following the president’s earlier threat to ban exports of “critical software” to the country.

Bessent told Fox Business that Greer was already on his way to Kuala Lumpur, and he would join later on Wednesday before accompanying Trump on the remainder of his Asia tour. “This is China versus the globe,” Bessent said. “The licensing regime they’ve proposed is unworkable and unacceptable.”

He added that the U.S. and its allies were weighing potential responses if Beijing refused to pause or amend its export plans. “I’m hoping that we can get this ironed out this weekend so that the leaders can enter their talks on a more positive note,” he said, describing the Trump–Xi encounter as a “pull-aside” — a brief, informal meeting intended to temper expectations.

Trump is due to travel to Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN summit starting Sunday, followed by a visit to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting in Gyeongju on 31 October and 1 November. Bessent said the president would also stop in Japan to meet the new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.

He expressed optimism that two days of “fulsome” talks with Chinese officials would pave the way for constructive dialogue between Trump and Xi, noting the U.S. president’s “great respect” for his Chinese counterpart.

U.S. accuses China of breaking trade pledges

Washington also announced sweeping sanctions on two Russian oil companies but refrained from imposing similar measures on China — one of the largest importers of Russian oil — as it had done with India.

Both Greer and Bessent emphasised that Washington is not seeking to decouple from China or escalate the situation, but rather to rebalance trade relations after years of limited market access for U.S. firms.

Trump himself has sent mixed messages about the Xi meeting, suggesting earlier in the week that it might not go ahead.

In an interview with CNBC, Greer said Beijing’s restrictions on rare earth exports violated commitments made months ago to maintain supplies for high-tech industries. However, he expressed hope that the U.S. and China could “find a new balance” in trade involving non-sensitive goods.

He also said China had failed to meet its obligations to purchase U.S. agricultural and manufactured products under a trade deal signed during Trump’s first term.

“The United States has always been open to the Chinese,” Greer said. “But China’s policies exclude U.S. companies and fuel overcapacity and overproduction — none of that works for us. We can’t live that way anymore, so we need a different path.”

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