Trump announces Xi Jinping's visit to Washington amid trade war

Xi Jinping is coming in the “not too distant future,” Trump said on March 17 at a meeting of the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Trump has escalated the trade war with China since returning to the White House, twice raising tariffs on imports from the Asian country. The President called these steps a response to Beijing's inability to stop the flow of illegal fentanyl and precursors used for its production.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that US and Chinese officials are discussing a possible “birthday summit” in June, where the two leaders - both celebrating birthdays in the middle of the month - would meet for the first time since Trump returned to the White House. The US President did not specify a specific timeframe for the possible meeting.

Trump also said last month that he would speak with Xi Jinping “probably in the next 24 hours” as the first 10% tariff increase was being prepared. That deadline for the tariffs passed without any public reports of a conversation.

Protocol

The top leaders of China and the United States usually visit each other's countries on a rotating basis, a protocol that places the onus on Trump to visit Beijing before hosting his counterpart. After Xi Jinping traveled to California in late 2023, Joe Biden became the first US President since Jimmy Carter not to visit China during his tenure.

www.bloomberg.com

Discussions between the two countries, which usually organize a meeting of leaders, have been stuck at lower levels, with both sides at an impasse over how to proceed. Beijing said that Washington has not laid out detailed steps it expects China to take on fentanyl to lift tariffs, sources said. The Trump team rejects this claim, saying the White House has sent a message to China through diplomatic channels.

Subject of negotiations

China has accused Trump of using fentanyl as a pretext for raising tariffs. Last week, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that Washington owes Beijing a “big thank you” for its work to combat drug trafficking instead of imposing import duties and urged the Trump administration to resume negotiations.

China did impose retaliatory tariffs, but these measures were more limited than its response to Trump's trade actions in his first term. After Trump doubled the tariff on Chinese imports to 20% earlier this month, Beijing announced a duty of up to 15% on US agricultural goods and banned trade with some defense companies.

www.bloomberg.com

Trump has said he is open to negotiating a deal, even as he increases pressure on Beijing. In any such discussions, the US will want to discuss more than just fentanyl, according to the source, who said that helping China create jobs in the American heartland, ensuring the dollar's centrality in global trade, and supporting Xi in ending the war in Ukraine will be on the agenda.

Also in focus will be Beijing's implementation of the trade agreement concluded during Trump's first term, under which China promised to fight the theft of American trade secrets and purchase an additional $200 billion in American products. The US review of this agreement is due to end on April 1.

Although Trump has often praised Xi Jinping, their relationship during his first term was disrupted after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, a global public health crisis for which the US leader blamed China.

The two last spoke in January, a few days before the US presidential inauguration, during a discussion about trade relations, the potential sale of the US unit of the TikTok app to ByteDance, and efforts to stop fentanyl trafficking.

Earlier, the South China Morning Post reported that Trump may visit China in April.