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Former President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States would welcome 600,000 Chinese students to U.S. colleges, part of a possible thaw in U.S.-China relations after months of rising tensions and the threat of new tariffs.

The president’s announcement at the White House came as U.S. officials continued to increase tariffs on Chinese goods and threatened new sanctions. He insisted that the United States could pursue both economic pressure and educational exchange at the same time.

“We’re going to let their students come in, you know,” Trump said. “I hear so many stories that we’re not going to allow their students. We’re going to allow their students to come in. It’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s very important. But we’re going to get along with China.”

Trump’s comments come as the United States and China continue to impose large economic tariffs. In the spring, the U.S. government instituted a 145 percent tariff on all Chinese products. China retaliated with its own 125 percent tariff on U.S. goods. Although negotiators in Geneva reached a deal in May to freeze further tariffs, Trump raised the possibility of new sanctions last week, including a 200 percent tariff on Chinese-made magnets. He argued that Beijing has a “virtual monopoly” over the global magnet supply.

“China, intelligently, went and they sort of took a monopoly on the world’s magnets,” Trump said. “It’ll probably take us a year to have them.”

Negotiators for the two countries have been meeting for months to resolve the trade standoff, but Trump has said tariffs would remain in place unless he is satisfied with China’s cooperation. Chinese President Xi Jinping has also expressed a willingness to negotiate, but has not taken concrete steps to address Washington’s concerns.

At present, more than 270,000 Chinese students attend U.S. universities. Allowing another 600,000 students from China would more than double the number and would bring in tens of billions of dollars for American schools. China’s population of international students is the largest in the world, and China has been one of the fastest-growing sources of foreign students in the United States.

A U-turn From Trump’s Visa Crackdown

Monday’s announcement reverses a Trump administration crackdown on visas for Chinese students announced last May. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R-FL) had said that the Trump administration would “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese citizens working in sensitive research institutions and members of the Chinese Communist Party. Universities expressed alarm at the plan, which would have affected tens of thousands of students and employees.

Trump later appeared to backtrack, saying that he “always has been in favor” of Chinese students coming to the United States. On Monday, he extended that backtracking to 600,000 students.

The news comes ahead of a meeting between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. Asked whether he would be open to a similar summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump replied that he would. “I would like to meet him this year,” he said.

“As you know, we’re taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs and the different things. It’s a very important relationship,” Trump said. “It’s a much better relationship economically than it was before with Biden. But he allowed that. They just took him to the cleaners.”

Trump has repeatedly used tough talk about tariffs and Chinese products in his public comments, so Monday’s comments may not signal a clear shift in direction. It does, however, appear to be a more conciliatory move with respect to China’s students and its relationship with universities.