President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were able to discuss "bigger picture ideas" during the world leaders' historic South Korea meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday on "Mornings with Maria."
"President Trump is commanding respect around the world like no other leader," Bessent said, touting the success of the meeting.
Bessent said he had previously spent two days of "very tough" negotiations with China's vice premier in Malaysia earlier in the week, which likely helped the situation.
"President Xi walked into the room and said, ‘I think we can agree on the consensus reached in Malaysia, so the two leaders were able to discuss more bigger picture ideas during the conversation, including what the remainder of President Trump’s term will look like."
Bessent told Maria Bartiromo that China sees President Trump’s return to office as an opportunity to reset relations with the U.S. on a foundation of mutual respect.
Trump said Thursday that he will cut tariffs on Chinese imports after the highly-anticipated meeting with Jinping, citing new understandings on fentanyl enforcement, farm trade, and a pause on rare-earth export limits.
"I believe he’s going to work very hard to stop the death that’s coming in," Trump said of Jinping.
Bessent elaborated on the rare-earth exports topic, noting that China unexpectedly backed down from new export restrictions after Trump’s team secured a one-year pause in exchange for concessions.
TRUMP CUTS CHINA TARIFF AFTER XI SIGNALS TOUGHER FENTANYL ENFORCEMENT, RARE-EARTH PAUSE
"It was China versus the world, and we were able to negotiate a one-year pause on that in return for some things that the Chinese wanted," he explained.
"President Trump was also able to negotiate with President Xi an agreement to start working on ending this terrible fentanyl crisis that is affecting the U.S. And what is China's part in that? Their precursor chemicals for fentanyl are shipped from China to Canada, to Mexico. They make their way into the U.S. and are killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens and ruining families and lives for decades to come.
He continued, "So President Trump very wisely, in the spring, had put a 20% fentanyl tariff on China. We agreed to cut that in half, and in return, they're going to give us substantial cooperation in return for... Reducing the precursor flow into North America."
Trump also said China agreed to pause planned export controls for a year. A senior administration official later clarified that both leaders agreed to revisit the agreement next year and that the arrangement could be extended at that time.
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Bessent went on to say the Asia trip could result in $2 trillion of added investment into the U.S.
This is a developing story please check back for updates.
Fox News Digital's Landon Mion contributed to this report.
