President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to hold a brief meeting in South Korea later this month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday, adding that the administration anticipates a ‘significant breakthrough’ in trade negotiations with China.
Bessent made the comments in a CNBC interview, a day after Trump reiterated that he plans to meet with Xi “in four weeks,” as South Korea prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.
“The most important thing we are going to see is a meeting, a pull-aside meeting with President Trump and party chair Xi in Korea toward the end of the month,” Bessent said.
Bessent underscored the importance of the two leaders’ in-person engagement, adding, “What gives us great comfort is the respect that the two leaders have for each other. So it will be helpful for them to be able to speak in person and set the framework for trade going forward.”
Bessent expressed optimism for his own parallel trade talks with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng. “I think with President Trump’s leadership and his relationship, the respect party chair Xi has for him, that this round, which would be our fifth round of talks, should show a pretty big breakthrough,” he said.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Wednesday that his priority on the upcoming talks will be soybeans, as China has stopped buying the product grown in the U.S. over the last several months.
“The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for “negotiating” reasons only, not buying. We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers. I WILL NEVER LET OUR FARMERS DOWN!” the president wrote.
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