United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to pause their escalating trade dispute, reaching a one-year truce during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.
The agreement marks the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since 2019 and aims to ease months of tension that have rattled global markets and disrupted international supply chains.
While the truce temporarily halts the exchange of new tariffs, it does not reverse existing trade barriers or fully resolve deep-rooted disagreements between Washington and Beijing.
Dennis Wilder, a professor at Georgetown University and former China specialist for the CIA and the White House National Security Council, told Al Jazeera that the outcome represents “a pause and a small rollback in the trade war.”
“Both sides have not given up their trade weapons but have agreed to stop firing as long as both hold to the agreements,” Wilder said.
Under the deal, China will postpone its planned export restrictions on rare earth minerals, while the U.S. will withdraw its proposed 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods. Additionally, Trump announced he would cut the existing 20 percent tariff on fentanyl-related imports to 10 percent after Xi pledged to intensify efforts to curb the flow of the synthetic opioid into the U.S.
“I believe he is going to work very hard to stop the death that is coming in,” Trump said aboard Air Force One after leaving South Korea.
Following the meeting, Trump described Xi as a “tough negotiator” and called the discussions “amazing,” noting that the two nations agreed to revisit the terms of the truce annually.
Despite the cautious optimism, analysts say the deal only provides short-term relief, leaving structural issues such as intellectual property rights, state subsidies, and technology transfers—still unresolved.
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