Will Donald Trump meet Xi Jinping amid tariff blow over rare earth minerals? Here's what Scott Bessent says

US President Donald Trump is likely to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea as both sides work to reduce trade tensions and disputes, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday.

The recent escalation of US-China trade tensions started on Thursday when China significantly increased its export restrictions on rare earths, prompting a swift response from Trump on Friday.

Bessent mentioned that there was significant communication between the two sides during the weekend.

"We have substantially de-escalated," Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

“President Trump said that the tariffs would not go into effect until November 1. He will be meeting with Party Chair Xi in Korea. I believe that meeting will still be on,” he added.

A number of staff-level meetings will be conducted this week on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington, Bessent said.

He further noted that the US expects support from allies such as the Europeans, India, and other democracies in Asia.

"China is a command and control economy. They are neither going to command nor control us," Bessent said.

Trump's tariffs on China

On Friday, Trump unexpectedly announced that the United States would impose an extra 100% tariff on all imports from China starting November 1, or possibly earlier. This raised doubts about an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

What did Trump say about latest tariffs on China?

In a long post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them.”

“Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” he added.

What did Trump say about meeting Xi Jinping?

Speaking to reporters earlier at the White House, Donald Trump expressed uncertainty about whether the expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea would take place.

“I haven't cancelled. I would assume we might have it. Beijing has never confirmed the meeting,” Reuters quoted the US President.

What is the issue with rare earth minerals?

Trump's tariff announcement came after reports that China had imposed new controls on rare earth mineral exports, which is vital for high-tech industries across the globe. Trump had previously threatened to respond with “a massive increase” in tariffs on Chinese imports in retaliation for Beijing’s latest trade restrictions.