Trump-Xi Talks End Without Agreements; Nuclear Testing Raises Stakes

President Trump and Xi Jinping met in Busan for about an hour and 40 minutes — their first in-person meeting since 2019 — on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit. They exchanged a cordial handshake but announced no formal agreements and left without public clarity on concrete outcomes. Xi urged both sides to avoid a “vicious cycle of mutual retaliation” and framed the encounter as an opportunity to de‑escalate tensions. Reporting indicates Beijing leveraged measures such as withholding soybean purchases and limits on rare‑earth exports to win concessions from Washington, including reduced tariffs, a suspension of port fees on Chinese ships, and a delay in U.S. export controls. Trump said he and Xi had “already agreed to a lot of things,” suggested he may lower some tariffs tied to fentanyl cooperation, and left for Air Force One without taking questions; the meeting followed his post announcing the U.S. would resume nuclear‑weapons testing, an unexpected development that broadened the stakes. Senior officials from both sides attended, and analysts warned that Beijing’s growing leverage means the final shape and durability of any deal remain unclear.