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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon could come face-to-face with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Luxon is scheduled to touch down in Busan, South Korea on Wednesday morning for the second leg of his Asia trip. He will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Gyeongju this week.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has invited Luxon to an Apec leaders’ dinner on Wednesday night that the Kiwi Prime Minister plans to attend.

It’s been reported that Trump is also scheduled to attend a leaders’ dinner after earlier in the day delivering keynote remarks at the Apec CEO summit luncheon. Luxon is expected at the CEO summit, but he is not planning to be at the luncheon.

The two leaders are yet to meet in person. They previously spoke on the phone following the US President’s re-election last November.

Luxon told the Herald previously they had developed a “good connection” during that phone call and believed any meeting would have a focus on “building the relationship”.

“We will have different views on trade, as we’ve articulated pretty well into their system. We’ll see how it goes, but if it happens, great, and if it doesn’t, you know, so be it as well.”

Luxons said tariffs, like those imposed by Trump earlier this year, were not “the way to go forward as a free trading, rules-based country”.

However, he has also acknowledged Trump was “pretty crystal clear” during his election campaign that he intended to go down that route.

New Zealand was given a base 15% tariff rate by the US, a lot lower than many Asian nations. Luxon said this week that a trade deal with the US during the Asian tour was highly unlikely.

Jamie Ensor is a senior political reporter for NZ Herald travelling with the Prime Minister in Asia this week.