GYEONGJU, South Korea — Leaders from across the Pacific convened Friday for a major regional summit in South Korea — minus one notable figure. U.S. President Donald Trump left the country a day earlier, shortly after a high-profile meeting with China’s Xi Jinping that eased tensions in their prolonged trade dispute.
Trump’s absence at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering — a bloc representing more than half of global trade — cedes the stage to Xi, who is holding headline meetings with Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, and Canada’s Mark Carney. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is representing Washington at the talks.
Opening the forum, Xi urged unity amid “rapid changes unseen in a century,” pledging that “China’s door to openness will not close; it will only open wider.” South Korean President and APEC chair Lee Jae Myung warned that a shifting global order and weakening trade momentum made “cooperation and solidarity” imperative.
Trade détente sets the tone — and the stakes
Though APEC decisions are non-binding and consensus can be elusive, supply-chain resilience and trade coordination top this year’s agenda, as economies digest the fallout from U.S. tariffs. Trump’s meeting with Xi produced an agreement for Washington to trim tariffs on Chinese goods by 10% — to an effective 47% — while Beijing will delay some rare-earth export controls and resume purchases of U.S. soybeans.
The détente followed a three-nation swing that the White House cast as a win for all sides. In Tokyo, Trump and Takaichi announced a “new golden age” and signed a critical-minerals pact. In Seoul, a separate deal envisioned multibillion-dollar South Korean investments in U.S. shipbuilding, aerospace and technology.
Xi’s bilateral tests
Xi’s sit-down with Takaichi poses a delicate test: Japan is China’s largest trading partner, yet Takaichi has criticized Beijing’s military posture and voiced support for cooperation with self-ruled Taiwan. Xi is also expected to meet Carney, whose government is locked in an escalating trade dispute with Washington, and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
What’s next
With Trump off the APEC stage, attention turns to whether Xi can rally members around supply-chain safeguards and a steadier trade climate — and whether tentative U.S.–China de-escalation holds as leaders navigate domestic pressures and competing strategic interests.
