Trump Says He Expects To Reach Trade Deal With Xi Jinping

United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he expects to reach a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping in their meeting in South Korea next week. He also claimed to raise concerns pertaining to China’s purchase of Russian oil. 

"I think we'll make a deal," Trump told reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, adding he believed that Xi had shifted his thinking on the war in Ukraine and would be receptive to a discussion about ending the war.

"He would now like - I'm not sure that he did at the beginning - he would now like that war to end," he said, Reuters reported. 

He said he also expected some agreement with China to restart its purchases of U.S. soybeans.

He also indicated a possible deal on  nuclear arms, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had raised the possibility of a de-escalation on nuclear weapons and China could be added to that.

Trump, however, downplayed the importance of China's curbs on exports of rare earth magnets that have roiled markets, calling it "a disturbance" and describing tariffs as a "more powerful" issue.

The US president had earlier imposed tariffs of 100 percent on Chinese products including export controls on nearly all rare earths, which are set to take effect from November 1. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had earlier reached Malaysia to diffuse tensions between the two nations. Trump is also scheduled to travel to Kuala Lumpur for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that begins on Sunday, and later that week is expected in South Korea ahead of a leaders' summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum that is being held October 31-November 1 in Gyeongju.