Photo: Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced that he reached a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to lower tariffs in exchange for a crackdown on fentanyl while speaking to reporters on Air Force One prior on his way back to Washington, D.C., via NBC News.
Trump said he would reduce his fentanyl tariff on China to 10% effective immediately after Xi agreed to intensify efforts to limit the international flow of the deadly opioid during a meeting Trump described as "amazing" and rated a "12" on a scale of one to 10. The president also confirmed he would visit China again in April and planned to host Xi "some time after that" either at the White House or his personal Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Xi reportedly told Trump that the two countries should maintain "communication at all levels" in order to avoid a "vicious cycle of retaliation."
“Trade should remain the ballast and propeller of China-U.S. relations, not a stumbling block or source of conflict,” Xi said according to a readout released by China’s state-run news agency Xinhua.
The meeting, which served as the first between the two since Trump began his second of two non-consecutive presidential terms in January, was reported to have lasted 40 minutes and concluded Trump's three-country tour of Asia. Trump had previously described Xi as a longtime friend and "tough negotiator," while Xi also acknowledged "frictions" between the two countries, adding, “given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye.”