Trump To Meet Chinese President Xi Jinping Next Week In South Korea

US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30 during his official trip to South Korea, the White House said on Thursday.

“On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

She further said: “Tomorrow night at 11 pm, the President will depart the White House to fly to Malaysia, where he will arrive on Sunday morning local time. President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting with the prime minister of Malaysia in the afternoon, and then he will attend the ASEAN leaders’ working dinner that evening.”

Leavitt said that the President will fly to Tokyo on Monday morning and the next day he will participate in a bilateral meeting with the new Prime Minister of Japan.

“On Wednesday morning, local time, the president will fly to Busan (South Korea), where he will participate in a bilateral meeting with the president of the Republic of Korea, deliver keynote remarks at the APEC CEO luncheon, and then participate in a US-APEC leaders working dinner. On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China before departing to return home to Washington, DC,” she added.

On Wednesday, Trump had said that he would be going to Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan next week. “In South Korea, I’ll be meeting with President Xi of China. We’ll have a pretty long meeting scheduled. We can work out a lot of our questions and our doubts and our tremendous assets together,” he said.

This comes days after the US President announced imposition of 155% tariffs on China from November 1.

“… Right now, as of November 1st, China will have about 155% tariffs put on it. I don’t think it’s sustainable for them. I want to be nice to China. But China has been very rough with us over the years because we had presidents that weren’t smart from a business standpoint… They allowed China and every other country to take advantage of us,” Trump said at the White House.

This comes as the trade war between the world’s two largest economies continues to rattle global markets. Washington’s import duties on Chinese goods have climbed to as high as 145%, sparking concerns about supply chains and slowing growth. Although both sides agreed to a 90-day truce earlier this year, that pause is set to expire on November 10 unless extended.