U.S. President Donald Trump announced new trade measures with China, including scaled-back tariffs, following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

The announcement came amid trade tensions between the countries after China sought more sweeping rare earth material export controls, and President Trump threatened an additional 100% tariff against Chinese goods in response.

"I guess on the scale from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was at 12," President Trump told reporters.

He announced the U.S. will halve fentanyl-related tariffs from 20% to 10% against China while other investigation-related tariffs remain, as it committed to help stem the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., bringing tariffs generally to 45%-47%.

"He's going to work very hard on it. Precursors. And I think you're going to see some real action taken," Trump said of his Chinese counterpart.

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"China and the United States are the two largest economies in the world, and it is critical that we make sure that we don't get into conflict with each other," former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said in an interview with CNN.

Meanwhile, China will suspend restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals. The measure, when announced by the Chinese previously, had initially prompted a strong rebuke from the Trump administration and a threat of an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods.

"The Chinese saw that. The whole world reacted to this, they overstepped, and so they, they've now said we're not going to do that. We have some rare earth controls from earlier in the year on magnets, where we got to a decent flow, but now we expect them to flow even, even better. We expect there to be more of a Chinese general approach to permissiveness and allowing that rare earth magnet flow. So even that improved," United States Trade Representative Amb. Jamison Greer told Scripps News Group.

It comes as the U.S. has sought deals with allies on critical minerals, including efforts to increase mining and processing.

"As the leader of a U.S. company manufacturing permanent magnets, we keep hearing that customers want magnets from outside China. The U.S. must go all-in during this one-year period to let supply chains mature outside of China, which can create a transparent, predictable, and reliable global marketplace," said Wade Senti, president of Advanced Magnet Lab.

President Trump said the leaders also discussed chips, with China expected to speak with Nvidia. Greer said they expect Chinese investigations of U.S. chipmakers "to go away."

Additionally, the U.S. will also suspend measures related to investigations against China's maritime and shipbuilding.

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China also agreed to agricultural purchases. China will purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans by January and at least 25 million metric tons annually through 2028, according to a White House official. The amount is a "floor" according to USDA Sec. Brooke Rollins, who also noted commitments to buy sorghum, hardwood and the removal of "unwarranted retaliatory tariffs" on agricultural products.

That will be welcome news for farmers like Chris Cherry who spoke to Scripps News Group earlier in the week.

"We need to have a deal done for us to be where we're profitable," Cherry said.

While calling the announcement a positive development, the American Soybean Association also noted "China has historically purchased 25 to 30 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in recent years, and today's commitments lay a strong foundation to return to those traditional volumes over the coming marketing years."

Reduced tariffs could bring the prices down on some goods imported from China, but University of Tampa economics professor Abby Hall says consumers will still feel the pinch from previous tariffs.

"While this is a reduction in the tariff rate that's being imposed on China, it's certainly by no means an elimination," Hall said.

"So will consumers ultimately notice a big difference at the end of the day? Maybe on some goods, but this is certainly not going to eliminate the economic pain that consumers will feel as a result of the tariffs," Hall added.

President Donald Trump announced aboard Air Force One on Thursday that he will lower tariffs on China, reducing the tariff rate on goods entering the U.S. from 57% to 47%.

Trump said he increased tariffs on China earlier this year in retaliation for the nation not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl to the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration says China is the primary source of illegal fentanyl in the U.S.

Previously, the U.S. had placed a 37% reciprocal tariff on goods shipped from China. The Trump administration added a 20% tariff because of fentanyl. That additional tariff has now been reduced to 10%.

Thursdays announcement came after Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. President Trump said he gave the meeting a "12" on a scale of 0-10.

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We agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow, Trump said. You know, its a very complex subject because its used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics and things, but hes going to work very hard on itprecursorsand I think youre going to see some real action taken.

The meeting was considered high-stakes between the two leaders. Both countries have raw materials the other wants. China has large supplies of rare-earth materials used in making batteries and superconductors, while the U.S. has large amounts of soybeans.

China had placed restrictions on rare-earth materials from the U.S. in retaliation for tariffs. The Trump administration said some of those restrictions will be delayed for one year.

The American Soybean Association had urged Trump to seek a trade deal with China. According to the association, China imports 60% of the worlds soybeans, but retaliatory tariffs made U.S. soybeans 20% more expensive than South American supplies, putting the U.S. at a disadvantage.

Were in agreement on so many elementslarge amounts, tremendous amountsof soybeans and other farm products are going to be purchased immediately, Trump said.

A White House official told Scripps News that China has committed to purchasing 12 million metric tons of soybeans by January, and then at least 25 million metric tons annually through 2028.

Todays announcement is great news for American agriculture, and soybean farmers are extremely grateful to President Trump for making soybeans a priority in negotiations with China, said Caleb Ragland, ASA President and soybean farmer from Magnolia, Kentucky. This is a meaningful step forward to reestablishing a stable, long-term trading relationship that delivers results for farm families and future generations.

Tariffs are paid by the company importing products into the U.S. Many economists believe companies pass the cost of tariffs onto consumers, raising prices.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. would resume nuclear weapons testing, restarting a practice that the nation halted in 1992.

In a message on social media, President Trump said the change was to maintain parity with rival nations.

"Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately," President Trump wrote.

The U.S. voluntarily shuttered its nuclear testing program in 1992, when its final test evaluated an underground detonation on September 23 at the Nevada National Security Sites near Las Vegas.

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President Trump's announcement came on the same day Russia said it tested an atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the weapons system could not be intercepted.

Russia this week also tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile, which it claims is capable of long-duration loitering and effectively unlimited range.

In response to Trump's announcement, Russia said it would "act accordingly" if a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing is broken.

Democratic senators from Nevada sharply criticized the decision. Sen. Jacky Rosen vowed to fight to stop this, while Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto called the move dangerous, misguided and unnecessary.

President Donald Trump hailed new actions to target cartels, foreign gangs and transnational crime during a roundtable on Thursday.

An executive order signed the day President Trump took office directed the creation of Homeland Security task forces to counter drug cartel and gang activity. The task force entered operation in all 50 U.S. states in September.

On Thursday President Trump announced the effort has now seen "the largest number of arrests of cartel leaders, operatives and gang members in American history, more than 3,000 and counting."

Scripps News spoke with U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta Thursday about the anti-crime effort.

White House touts cartel arrests as it rolls out anti-crime task forces in each state

Serralta says the new task forces plan to work closely with state law enforcement and share information across all of their branches.

"Each task force is going to spend up their own investigations. However, there is a very thorough sharing of information. So there won't be any silos between the agencies. And that's important, because in the end, when we share information, we attack the problem together, we do it quicker, more efficient, and it's better results."

The crimefighting push comes as federal law enforcement in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, focus on arrests for violent crime and seizures of weapons. Serralta expects the law enforcement presence will remain in D.C. through the end of the year, and perhaps longer in Memphis.

"Memphis is going great," Serralta said. "I think Memphis is on day 14, maybe something like that. And we have almost 1,900 arrests. We have about 270 firearms seized. It's actually going to, in my opinion, I think it'll overtake the stats that we have in in D.C."

But "Memphis is going to take a bit longer," he said. "I'll probably be assessing it at the 90-day mark. But depending on what we find when we're there, the crime rate needs to be driven down substantially."

Watch the full interview with Serralta in the embedded video.