The summit in South Korea on Thursday came after months of heightened tensions affecting trade between the two nations, despite several announced truces.
Trump increased tariffs on China, reaching up to 145 percent, and tightened export controls on high-tech goods. In response, Beijing launched a significant pressure campaign.
This included reducing American farm goods purchases, which dropped by over 50 percent in the first seven months of 2025. U.S. soybean farmers, with exports of $18 billion to China in 2022, saw shipments fall to $2.4 billion from January to July.
Beijing also imposed new export controls on rare earth materials.
China added five rare earth elements to its control list and controversially planned to require foreign companies using even small amounts of Chinese-sourced rare earths to get a license to export finished products.
U.S. officials saw this as an attempt by China to control global supply chains. Trump threatened 100 percent tariffs to start on Nov. 1.
However, both sides seemed eager to avoid further escalation. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, after meeting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia, believed Beijing would delay its rare earth restrictions for a year, make significant farm goods purchases, and try to reduce fentanyl precursor chemical shipments to the U.S.
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