President Donald Trump, in his usual style, plans to sign mineral deals in Asia, hoping to increase pressure on Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of their much-speculated but yet-to-be-confirmed meeting.
Senior U.S. officials said the Trump administration aims to unlock the region’s resources to foster more investments in the U.S. and establish sustainable supply chains for global industries.
Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia’s Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister, says a deal with the Trump administration is possible. He briefly mentioned that his country has been in talks with the world’s superpower over a potential minerals deal.
The U.S. president is expected to visit Malaysia for the Asian Nations summit before heading to Japan and later South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. It will all be capped by a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.
Trump recently touted his expectation of a fantastic trade deal with China by the end of the month, as reported by Cryptopolitan. The U.S. president said talks are heading in the right direction, and he expects a comprehensive agreement to be reached, despite the tense standoff between the two countries and ongoing threats over tariffs and rare-earth minerals.
Aziz negotiates for chips to be spared from Trump’s tariffs
The Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister pleaded with the Trump administration to spare chips from Trump’s tariffs, leaving them at zero, as Malaysia prepares to ink a trade deal with the U.S. on October 26. He emphasized that this is a key market for his country, stating that he hopes the chip market remains as it is.
Malaysia was slapped with a 19% tariff rate for exports to the U.S., and Trump is reportedly mulling tariffs on semiconductors of up to 300%. However, the world’s sixth-largest chip exporter is strongly against the exorbitant tariffs because the U.S. is its third-largest market for semiconductor exports.
Aziz expressed Malaysia’s ambitions in mining and processing rare earth minerals to tap growing demand for minerals powering EVs, green technologies like lithium batteries, and electronic devices. He disclosed that his country already plans to continue engaging firms from the U.S., China, Korea, and Japan to support its ambitions.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said earlier this month that the sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd. will partner with other global firms in the downstream processing of rare earths.
Bessent claims the Trump-Xi meeting will be a pull-aside
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the anticipated talk between Trump and Xi in South Korea will be a “pull-aside”, implying that it will not be a formal meeting. However, Trump later contradicted the Treasury Secretary, saying that he and Xi would have a lengthy discussion to iron out all the issues. China has not confirmed any plans for a meeting.
According to Reuters, neither side expects a breakthrough from the Trump-Xi meeting that would restore the terms of trade that existed before Trump’s second term. However, Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 155% on Chinese imports starting on November 1 if no agreement is reached at the meeting.
The two sides are reportedly preparing for a meeting focused on modest improvements and managing disagreements. An interim deal could possibly include an extension of current rates, limited relief on tariffs, or China pledging to buy U.S. Boeing airplanes and soybeans.
Meanwhile, the U.S. could allow more high-end computer chip exports to China, which could loosen Trump’s controls on the rare earth magnets that have angered him. Or, nothing will come of the discussions at all.
Mira Rapp-Hopper, a former official in the Biden administration and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, also noted that Trump’s Asia policies are characterized by intense pressure on defense spending and countries’ trade policies. She believes the most critical question during his Asia trip is who the U.S. stands with, and what it stands for.
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