President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on Thursday, just weeks before a new, 100% US tariff threat on Chinese goods is set to take effect.
The “big meeting” will take place in South Korea during the APEC summit. Speaking from Japan, Trump projected confidence, saying, “I think it’s going to work out very well.”
The November 1 tariff deadline was set by the US after China imposed tight export controls on rare earth minerals. This tit-for-tat has ended a recent period of relative calm.
The conflict has also seen the US impose new port fees on Chinese ships, which in turn sparked a wave of mutual countermeasures from Beijing.
Despite the economic brinkmanship, Trump called the upcoming talks “fantastic.” He added that both he and President Xi have “a lot to talk about.”