President Donald Trump is still expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea by the end of the month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday after trade tensions between the United States and China flared up in recent days.

“He will be meeting with party chair Xi in Korea — I believe that meeting will still be on,” Bessent told Fox Business of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit scheduled for the end of October.

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Trump was expected to meet with Xi at the APEC Summit, but the Republican dashed those plans by suggesting he was canceling the highly anticipated meeting as the two nations engage in trade talks.

“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so,” Trump said on Truth Social on Friday.

The message came in response to China’s move to impose export controls on rare earth minerals, which would likely disrupt the U.S. supply chains and raise costs for the technology and defense sectors that rely on such minerals for production.

As a result, Trump threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports. The new tariff could take effect Nov. 1 or sooner, although there’s a chance it could be scrapped altogether after Trump struck a friendlier tone with Xi.

“Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday. “Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!”

Bessent said U.S. and Chinese officials will meet in Washington, D.C., this week during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings. The secretary added that there has been “substantial communication” with China since trade tensions escalated with Trump’s tariff threat late last week.

Meanwhile, China is standing firm on pursuing countermeasures if the U.S. does not abandon the significant tariff.

“China urges the U.S. to promptly correct its erroneous practices,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. “If the U.S. insists on going its own way, China will certainly take resolute measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

“Our position on a tariff war remains consistent — we do not want one, but we are not afraid of one,” the Ministry of Commerce said the day before.

The U.S. and China were engaging in negotiations to avert a trade war. In April, both nations significantly escalated tariffs to over 100% until Trump reversed course and initiated a truce. U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods currently stand at 30%.

TRUMP BRUSHES OFF TRADE TENSIONS WITH CHINA: ‘IT WILL ALL BE FINE!’

While it remains uncertain whether the 100% tariff threat stands, the Trump administration is standing firm in its opposition to China’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals.

“This is China versus the world — they have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world, and we’re not going to have it,” Bessent said. “A group of bureaucrats in China cannot tell us and our allies how to run our supply system.”