Trump says he expects to lower fentanyl-related tariffs on Beijing, discuss ‘farmers’

U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects to lower fentanyl-linked tariffs on China ahead of a much-anticipated meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea.

The president told reporters aboard the Air Force One on Wednesday that the fentanyl flows into the U.S. and “farmers” will be among topics that he expects to discuss with Xi on Thursday.

When asked whether the potential one-year pause in Beijing’s implementation of rare earth export controls would be enough to draw more concessions from the U.S., Trump said “we haven’t talked about the timing yet but we are gonna work out something.”

The comments came after the Wall Street Journal’s report Tuesday that the U.S. could cut the 20% fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese exports by half, in return for Beijing’s crack down on the export of chemicals that make fentanyl.

Trump called relations with China “very good,” saying that “we are going to have a great meeting with China’s Xi.”

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