Politics is usually a game of scripts, but when Donald Trump and Xi Jinping sat down in Busan last October, it felt like someone had tossed the script into the Sea of Japan. Most people assume these high-level summits are all about the handshake and the photo op. While the visuals were there—Trump and Xi walking toward the Gimhae International Airport exit looking like old friends—the reality was a lot more complicated.
Honestly, the South Korea Trump Xi meeting was less of a grand peace treaty and more of a tactical "time-out." It happened on October 30, 2025, during the APEC summit. Since then, we've seen a lot of noise about what was actually won or lost. Trump rated the meeting a "12 out of 10," which is classic Trump, but if you look at the fine print, the U.S. and China basically just hit the pause button on a trade war that was threatening to melt down global supply chains.
The Busan Truce: Breaking Down the South Korea Trump Xi Meeting
So, what did they actually talk about for 100 minutes? It wasn't just K-pop and barbecue. The big win for the U.S. side was a temporary ceasefire on tariffs. Trump agreed to roll back some of the more aggressive retaliatory duties that had been hammering consumers since his second term started in early 2025. In exchange, Xi made a few specific promises that look good on a campaign flyer but might be harder to track in the real world.
China agreed to three main things:
✨ Don't miss: Removing the Department of Education: What Really Happened with the Plan to Shutter the Agency
- Buying a massive amount of U.S. soybeans again (a perennial favorite for trade talks).
- Cooperating on stopping the flow of fentanyl.
- Suspending their own export controls on rare earth elements.
The rare earths part is the real kicker. China has a stranglehold on the minerals we need for everything from iPhones to F-35 fighter jets. By agreeing to pause their licensing regime, they basically gave the global tech industry a chance to breathe. But don't be fooled. Beijing didn't do this out of the goodness of their heart. They did it because their own economy is stuttering, and they need to buy time to build up their own "tech-industrial" defenses.
Why South Korea was the perfect (and weirdest) stage
You might wonder why this happened in Busan instead of DC or Beijing.
South Korea, under President Lee Jae-myung, has been playing a very dangerous game of "balancing." They're stuck between their biggest military ally (the U.S.) and their biggest trading partner (China). By hosting the South Korea Trump Xi meeting, Seoul tried to position itself as the indispensable middleman.
It kinda worked, but it also made things awkward. Just days after the meeting, South Korean officials had to clarify that their hosting duties didn't mean they were pivoting away from Washington. It's a tightrope walk. One week they're hosting Trump and Xi, and the next, they're signing 14 different MOUs with China to restore a "full-scale" relationship that had been frozen for nearly a decade.
🔗 Read more: Quién ganó para presidente en USA: Lo que realmente pasó y lo que viene ahora
What most people get wrong about the deal
There’s this misconception that this meeting solved the trade war. It didn't.
It’s a one-year truce. That’s it.
Expert analysts from places like the Brookings Institution and Chatham House are already pointing out the massive gaps in how both sides are describing the agreement. The White House says China committed to "effectively eliminate" export controls. The Chinese version of the story is much more vague. They're basically saying, "We'll see how it goes."
- The Rare Earths Gap: Washington thinks the taps are wide open; Beijing thinks they’ve just loosened the valve a quarter-turn.
- The Soybeans Factor: While farmers in the Midwest are happy, these purchases are often used as a political lever rather than a permanent trade shift.
- The April Visit: Trump has already teased a visit to Beijing in April 2026. This means the Busan meeting was just the opening act for a much larger show.
The AI elephant in the room
We can't talk about these two without talking about AI. South Korea is currently obsessed with its "AI for All" agenda, trying to become a top-three global power in the field. During the South Korea Trump Xi meeting, the subtext was clearly about who controls the chips and the code. Xi has been bragging about China's new DeepSeek models and their "high-level scientific self-reliance." Trump, meanwhile, is pushing "America First" in the tech space, eyeing export controls that would keep the best gear out of Chinese hands.
💡 You might also like: Patrick Welsh Tim Kingsbury Today 2025: The Truth Behind the Identity Theft That Fooled a Town
It’s a weird paradox. They’re shaking hands in a Busan airport lounge while their engineers are back home trying to build "digital firewalls" against each other.
Actionable insights: What this means for you
If you're an investor or just someone worried about the price of a new car, here’s how to read the room after the South Korea Trump Xi meeting:
- Watch the April 2026 Date: That’s the real deadline. If Trump’s visit to Beijing goes sideways, the Busan truce will evaporate instantly.
- Monitor Rare Earth Prices: If China suddenly starts "re-evaluating" its export licenses again, expect tech stocks to get jumpy.
- Supply Chain Diversification: Even with the truce, companies are still moving production to places like Vietnam and India. The Busan meeting didn't stop the "de-risking" trend; it just made it less chaotic for a few months.
- South Korean Neutrality: Keep an eye on Seoul. If they lean too far toward Xi, expect a "stern" response from the Trump administration regarding military cost-sharing.
The Busan summit was a masterclass in political theater. It gave both leaders a chance to look like statesmen without actually giving up their core leverage. For now, the world has a bit of stability. Just don't expect it to last forever. The tension is still there, bubbling right under the surface of those "12 out of 10" smiles.
Next Steps for Tracking Progress:
Monitor the official White House "White House Wire" and the Chinese Foreign Ministry readouts for any discrepancies in the implementation of the rare earth mineral price floors. Follow the upcoming 2026 G7 Action Plan updates, as European and Asian partners will likely use the Busan framework to negotiate their own mini-deals with Beijing before Trump's scheduled April visit.