Redazione RHC : 30 October 2025 09:56
After years of tensions, tariffs, mutual accusations, and trade wars that have shattered the global balance of power, the long-awaited meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has finally taken place.
The face-to-face meeting, which lasted about an hour and forty minutes, took place on Thursday, October 30, at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea . Initial reports indicated that the summit would have been “positive”—but not for everyone.
Trump, visibly pleased, spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One and said, “It was a fantastic meeting. He’s a great leader,” and also added , “We reached agreement on a lot of important issues.”
President Xi Jinping, Xinhua news agency reports , said that under their joint leadership, relations between China and the United States have remained generally stable. “China and the United States should be partners and friends. This is what history has taught us and this is what reality demands,” he said.
Xi said China’s economic development is enjoying good momentum, adding that in the first three quarters of this year , the Chinese economy grew by 5.2 percent , and import and export trade in goods with the rest of the world increased by 4 percent. He added , “Over the past seven decades and more, we have been working on the same project from generation to generation to make it a reality. We have no intention of challenging or supplanting anyone. Our goal has always been to better manage China’s affairs, improve ourselves, and share development opportunities with all countries in the world.”
In summary, the two heads of state agreed to maintain regular exchanges. Trump looks forward to visiting China early next year and invited President Xi Jinping to visit the United States.
The US president declared that China has resumed purchasing US soybeans , after months of a boycott, and that it will “buy large quantities of soybeans and other agricultural products.” This move boosts the US agricultural sector—a crucial sector for Trump’s electoral base—but suggests a return to bilateral trade based on political expediency, rather than economic stability.
Beijing also reportedly agreed not to impose barriers on rare earth exports and to postpone the implementation of export controls by one year, while Washington promised a 10% reduction in tariffs on Chinese products , bringing them to 47% overall.
Although the atmosphere appeared relaxed—with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick even giving a thumbs-up—the market reaction was lukewarm. Analysts see the meeting as a tactical pause rather than a strategic breakthrough.
In other words, this is a temporary breath of fresh air , not a lasting reconstruction of the global economic order. Both presidents represent a new generation of autocratic and unpredictable leaders, who decide unilaterally and are surrounded by loyalists ready to indulge them.
As an analysis published by the New York Times observes, this lack of checks and balances could undermine global security and make any promises or truces potentially ephemeral. Recent examples abound: Putin’s Russia, with its invasion of Ukraine; China, with its growing aggression in the South China Sea; and Trump’s United States, with its extrajudicial killings and sudden withdrawal from international agreements.
In a world sliding towards a new bipolarism, Europe remains a spectator .
The Busan summit did not bring any tangible benefits to the Old Continent, on the contrary.
The United States and China appear to have found common ground on issues that exclude Europe , from agricultural products to rare earths, leaving the European bloc once again on the sidelines of global negotiations.
The European Union, lacking a unified trade and industrial policy, finds itself suffering the side effects of others’ decisions: an economic slowdown, technological dependence, and growing energy fragility.
The Trump-Xi meeting may be presented as a diplomatic success, but in reality it represents a convenient truce between two powers pursuing exclusively their own national interests.
It doesn’t mark the end of the trade war, but rather the return to an unstable equilibrium, dominated by tactical calculations and short-term gains. For Europe, the message is clear: while the giants negotiate, the rest of the world awaits the consequences .
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