POTUS: China is paying substantial tariffs, but we didn't discuss levies

US President Donald Trump said he did not discuss a possible extension of his tariff truce when he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

"We didn't discuss tariffs," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"They're paying substantial tariffs, but we didn't discuss."


The President's remarks come despite his trade ambassador, Jamieson Greer, saying earlier that the two sides had discussed creating a "Board of Trade" that would see tariffs reduced on at least $30 billion in non-critical goods.

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There had also been speculation the two leaders could announce an extension of the deal they brokered during their last meeting - an agreement set to expire later this year - that cooled a trade war between Washington and Beijing that rattled financial markets as they imposed escalating retaliatory tariffs.

Trump and Xi eventually agreed to a broad one-year truce in October to ease those levies, with Beijing also committing to US soybean purchases and relaxing export controls on critical rare earths.

While Trump maintained the leaders this week spoke about "almost everything you can discuss, except for a reduction of tariffs," he did allow that the two sides outlined efforts to reduce the flow of precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl. Trump has cited fentanyl flows in imposing some of the levies he placed on China.

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"I put a tariff on because of fentanyl, and they discussed that," Trump said. The US president indicated he was impressed that "fentanyl is way down from where it was" but said his trade "penalty" may have been the reason why.

China has restricted the export of the rare-earth metals needed to manufacture everything from phones to aircraft in retaliation for the high tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese goods.

Trump invited Xi and his wife to the White House on September 24, as both leaders agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy.