Trump on meeting Xi Jinping as tariff on China goes to 157% in Nov: 'First question I'm going to ask is…'
During a press interaction at the White House, US President Donald Trump said the first question he would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping would be about fentanyl.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the tariff on Chinese exports to the US will go up to 157 percent, "which is record-setting territory," starting in November 2025.
During a press interaction at the White House, Trump said the first question he would ask the Chinese President would be about fentanyl.
"I'm meeting with President Xi... The first question I'm going to be asking him about is fentanyl. They make $100 million selling fentanyl into our country," Trump said.
Trump is meeting Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, next Thursday, October 30, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
The US President accused China of using Venezuela as a transit point for fentanyl, evading US and Mexican port controls.
When asked if China is smuggling fentanyl into the US via Venezuela, Trump said, "They are doing that. But they are paying a 20% tariff right now because of fentanyl."
He said China loses $100 billion with the 20 percent tariff.
"So it's not a good business proposition... It's one of the things we're talking about... They pay a very big penalty for doing that... We'll see what happens at the end of next week... I'm meeting with President Xi, actually, in South Korea...," said Trump.
Trump to meet Xi
Trump's meeting with Xi Jinping in Busan comes at a moment of heightened economic and geopolitical strain between the two powers, with Washington preparing to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports just days after the summit.
Trump said on Thursday that on November 1, the tariff on China will rise to 157 percent, “a record-setting level. It's not sustainable for them.”
The Busan encounter will be the first in-person meeting between Trump and Xi since 2019, when they last met during the G20 Summit in Japan. This time, however, officials say the stakes are far higher.
Trump said that his campaign against drug cartels, coupled with his summit meeting next Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, would accelerate the decline of overdose deaths in the US, which peaked under former President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is set to hold economic and trade consultations with the United States, Xinhua reported, citing China's Ministry of Commerce.
The Chinese Vice Premier is set to lead a delegation to Malaysia from October 24 to 27, to attend the upcoming ASEAN summit, which is set to be attended by US President Donald Trump too. The meeting comes at a pivotal time when the United States has been locked in a 'trade war' with the country