BUSAN, South Korea — US President Donald J. Trump said on Thursday he had agreed with President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming US soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.

Mr. Trump’s face-to-face talks with Mr. Xi in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of the US president’s whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

“I thought it was an amazing meeting,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he departed Busan, ranking the talks a “12 out of 10.”

Mr. Trump said tariffs imposed on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57% by halving the rate of tariffs related to trade in fentanyl precursor drugs to 10% from 20%.

Mr. Xi will work “very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of American overdose deaths, Mr. Trump said. The tariff was reduced “because I believe they are really taking strong action,” he added.

Trading in global stocks was choppy as Mr. Trump revealed details of the deal, with major Asian indexes and European futures swinging between gains and losses. China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped from a 10-year high, while US soybean futures were weaker.

“At the moment, the price action makes things seem like a lot of this was already priced in,” said Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne. “Arguably the markets were hoping for the complete removal of the fentanyl tariff, so that could explain the ambivalence in the markets.”

Only India and Brazil are still subject to higher tariff rates among major US trading partners.

World stock markets from Wall Street to Tokyo had hit record highs leading up to the meeting on hopes of a breakthrough in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has upended supply chains and rocked global business confidence.

The cordial meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, lasted nearly two hours.

Mr. Trump repeatedly talked up the prospect of reaching agreement with Mr. Xi since US negotiators on Sunday said they had agreed a framework with China that will avoid 100% US tariffs on Chinese goods and achieve a deferral of China’s export curbs on rare earths, a sector it dominates.

But with both countries increasingly willing to play hardball over areas of economic and geopolitical competition, many questions remain about how long any trade detente may last.

FRICTIONS NOW AND THEN ARE NORMAL
As they sat down to begin talks at a South Korean air base on Thursday morning, Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump via a translator it was normal for the superpowers to have frictions now and then.

A few days ago, trade negotiators for both countries reached a “fundamental consensus on addressing each other’s primary concerns,” Mr. Xi said. “I am willing to continue working with President Trump to lay a solid foundation for China-US relations,” he added.

As well as trimming the fentanyl tariffs, Beijing had sought an easing of export controls on sensitive US technology, and a rollback of new US port fees on Chinese vessels aimed at combating China’s global dominance in shipbuilding, ocean freight and logistics.

Mr. Trump made no immediate comment on US concessions but said China would purchase “tremendous amounts” of US soybeans and other farm products “starting immediately.”

Ahead of the summit, China bought its first cargoes of US soybeans in several months, Reuters reported exclusively on Wednesday.

Previous trade deals, which brought down retaliatory tariffs on the US side and restarted the flow of rare earth magnets from China, are due to expire on Nov. 10.

But Beijing dramatically expanded its controls on rare earths earlier this month, minerals used in everything from cars to fighter jets on which they have a global stranglehold.

“They’re not going to impose the rare earth controls,” Mr. Trump told reporters.

Mr. Trump signed various pacts with Japan and Southeast Asian nations on diversifying supplies of rare earths during his trip, though blunting China’s dominance in that area may take years.

The leaders did not discuss chipmaker Nvidia’s state-of-art Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chip, Mr. Trump said, walking back the previous day’s remarks about potentially helping the company to export a scaled-down version of its current flagship GPU processor, a key component in the AI race. — Reuters

LONDON  — Britain said on Wednesday it had agreed to a deal with Vietnam to curb illegal migration in what it described as the strongest Hanoi had ever agreed with another country.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, under pressure to reduce the number of undocumented migrants reaching Britain to help arrest his government’s plunge in opinion polls, struck the deal with Vietnamese Communist Party Chief To Lam in London.

Vietnamese nationals were the most numerous among foreign migrants arriving in Britain by small boat from continental Europe in the six months to June 2024, accounting for 17% of all such arrivals in this period, according to official data.

According to the latest government data, small-boat arrivals accounted for 43,000 of the total of 48,000 irregular arrivals in the year ending June 2025.

The deal reached by Mr. Starmer and Mr. Lam aims to cut red tape and make it faster and easier to return migrants with no right to be in the United Kingdom (UK), the British government said.

“The number of illegal arrivals from Vietnam has already been cut by half, but more can be done,” Mr. Starmer said in a statement. “Today’s agreement shows that through international cooperation —not shouting from the sidelines — we can deliver for the UK and for working people.”

Mr. Lam, Vietnam’s paramount leader, has taken a central role in shaping foreign policy since becoming party chief last year, an effort previously led by the president and prime minister.

Mr. Starmer’s Labor government has seen its popularity slide since it took office last year — partly due to an increasing public backlash over immigration. Under pressure from the surging populist Reform UK party, the government has pledged to slash the number of migrants who arrive illegally.

Polling shows immigration is one of British voters’ main concerns after the high cost of living.

A joint declaration following the two leaders’ meeting said the partnership would also strengthen political trust, economic cooperation and science and technology. It would also include sectors such as energy and education.

The two countries also agreed to boost maritime security cooperation and monitoring through training, technology transfer and port visits, urging peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea, where Hanoi is often at odds with China over contested boundaries.

Before the leaders’ meeting, the BBC said it was “deeply concerned” about the well-being of one of its Vietnamese journalists who has been unable to leave Vietnam for months. The broadcaster covers the country from Bangkok.

In the joint statement, Britain and Vietnam agreed to ensure respect for human rights. — Reuters

CANBERRA/SYDNEY — Australia’s government on Thursday introduced an environmental protection bill into parliament that it said would better conserve nature while simplifying approvals for resource and construction projects.

The legislation should deliver up to A$6.9 billion ($4.5 billion) a year in economic benefit by speeding up decisions on whether gas facilities, mines, renewable energy projects and homes can be built, the government said.

It said typical environmental approval times have more than doubled in the last two decades to over two years.

Australia is a major exporter of liquefied natural gas, metals and coal and is working with allies including the United States to ramp up production of critical minerals and break China’s dominance of that industry.

The country is also mired in a housing shortage and trying to pivot rapidly to wind and solar power, while biodiversity is in decline.

Environment Minister Murray Watt said years of wrangling over new legislation should end.

“We’ve seen housing, renewables and other projects strangled in red tape at a time that we desperately need them delivered,” he said.

Mr. Watt said he aimed to pass the legislation through both houses of parliament by the end of the year.

That will require votes in the Senate from either the center-right Coalition or the left-wing Greens. The Coalition wants the bill to be more business friendly, and the Greens seek stricter environmental protection.

Mr. Watt, from the center-left Labor party, said he was negotiating with both.

The Business Council of Australia welcomed the reform as an opportunity to fix a broken system but its chief executive officer (CEO), Bran Black, said changes, including greater clarity around greenhouse gas reporting requirements, were needed to make sure it works for the economy and the environment.

Mr. Watt said the bill aimed to provide clear definitions of “unacceptable impacts” and higher penalties for breaches. It would also establish an independent National Environmental Protection Agency to enforce rules.

Clean Energy Council CEO Jackie Trad called it a step in the right direction. Renewable energy project approval times have blown out in recent years.

“We cannot afford to wait another five years to secure this,” Ms. Trad said. ($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars). — Reuters