President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had an “excellent” wide-ranging discussion on Wednesday, with China considering increasing its purchases of U.S.-farmed soybeans.
China May Boost US Soybean Purchase
As a goodwill move ahead of Trump’s expected visit to Beijing in April, Xi is considering boosting U.S. soybean purchases this season to 20 million metric tons, up from 12 million previously, Trump announced on Truth Social. The Chinese purchases for the next season would be 25 million metric tons, as per the U.S. president.
Trump also stated that the discussions included Taiwan, Russia-Ukraine war, current situation in Iran, as well potential oil purchase from the U.S.
In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Trump said that the Chinese president “is amazed at how well the United States is doing, because he said he’s never seen anything like that.”
Beijing, meanwhile, stated that it hopes the U.S. would “handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence,” reported CNBC. The Xi Jinping-led nation had previously underscored Taiwan as the “the most important issue” in China-U.S.–relations. China insists Taiwan is part of its territory, a claim firmly rejected by the democratically governed island.
Trade Talks Advance, Taiwan Tensions Linger
The recent talks between Trump and Xi comes after a crucial meeting in South Korea in October, where the two leaders made substantial decisions on trade, soybeans, and resources.
Earlier this week, Trump also announced a $12 billion critical mineral stockpile named Project Vault to reduce dependence on China. However, there was no indication about discussions over rare earth between the two leaders in Wednesday’s call.
Meanwhile, on the Taiwan front, Trump signed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act into law in December which the Chinese Foreign Ministry had opposed. The U.S. State Department also approved a $11.15 billion arms sale to Taiwan.
Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act Washington had committed to supplying Taiwan with the weapons and support needed to maintain credible self-defense.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: miss.cabul / Shutterstock.com
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