Trump Hosts Xi in Washington as Trade Truce, Taiwan and Iran Top Agenda

US President Donald Trump is hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday for their second summit of the year, with the two sides seeking stability in a relationship strained by disputes over trade, Taiwan, Iran and artificial intelligence.

Xi's arrival in Washington marks his first visit to the city in more than a decade. In the four months since the leaders met in Beijing in May, China has overseen a surge in its trade with the world, while Trump — contending with the Iran war and low approval ratings — is seeking economic wins to present to Americans unhappy with rising prices.

Trade truce extended

Markets have been watching for signs that a tariff truce announced after an earlier Trump-Xi summit in South Korea would be extended beyond its November 10 expiry. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, that the two sides had agreed to extend the pause until January 10, allowing more time to work on a potentially larger trade deal.

The so-called Busan Agreement paused a trade war in which the world's two largest economies threatened global supply chains with tit-for-tat tariffs that topped 100%. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said this month that the countries would make "some announcements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers," and traders will be watching for progress on an agreed mutual tariff reduction covering $30 billion in goods — a step China could most easily take by cutting duties on US agricultural imports.

Jets and farm produce

Trump is looking to announce trade wins ahead of November's midterm congressional elections, including by locking in high-profile purchases of Boeing aircraft and agricultural products. Greer said on Monday that China is making progress on a commitment to buy 200 Boeings but gave no indication that additional orders are near. Trump said in May that China could potentially boost its Boeing order — the manufacturer's first major Chinese deal in nearly a decade — to as many as 750 planes. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg last week played down expectations among industry analysts that China could make another order around the talks.

The White House said after the May summit that China had committed to purchasing at least $17 billion per year of US agricultural products in 2026, 2027 and 2028. US Senator Pete Ricketts, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said last week that Trump should press Xi to honor those commitments and follow through on pledges to open China's market to more US beef exports.

Rare earths and technology

Beijing has been pressing Washington to further delay a rule that would bar thousands of Chinese firms from advanced US technology, while Washington wants Beijing to ease export controls on rare earths and critical minerals vital for high-tech applications.

Experts say Trump has taken a less combative approach than usual ahead of the meeting because of China's growing leverage on critical minerals. China controls up to 70% of global rare-earth mining, 85% of refining capacity and about 90% of rare-earth metal alloy and magnet production, according to consultancy AlixPartners. The Trump administration has so far not threatened steep tariffs on Chinese imports or a ban on US technology exports, in contrast to the aggressive stances that preceded earlier summits. Last year, in retaliation against Trump's tariffs, China curbed rare earth exports, sending shockwaves through world markets.

Taiwan concerns

US allies in Asia have grown increasingly concerned that Trump may be tempted to soften Washington's support for Taiwan in order to lock in economic wins. Taiwan, which is democratically governed, strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims. While the US, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Washington is the island's most important international backer and arms supplier.

Trump said Xi pressed him on US arms sales to Taiwan during the May visit, with the US president later describing a pending package worth up to $14 billion as a "negotiating chip." Beyond arms, people familiar with Chinese efforts said Beijing also hopes to persuade Trump to state publicly that the US opposes Taiwan's independence, rather than saying only that it does not support independence — Washington's formulation for decades. Any US shift on Taiwan would be highly controversial, raising questions about Washington's resolve to defend the island and provoking opposition in Congress.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea and reiterated the US commitment to the defense of those key Asian allies, and the three nations expressed support for Taiwan. In a letter to Trump on Friday, John Moolenaar, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, wrote that Chinese objections to US arms sales and security cooperation should be "rejected out of hand."

Iran and AI

China maintains close ties to Tehran and is by far the world's biggest buyer of Iranian oil exports. Washington sees Xi as uniquely able to exert pressure on Tehran, but he has shown little inclination to do so. Bessent has said Trump and Xi would continue discussions on China's financial ties to Tehran during the summit. Despite US frustration with Beijing, Bessent stopped short of imposing penalties on Chinese banks when he unveiled an "economic onslaught" against Iran last month and warned countries to cut business ties with the country.

Last week, Trump brushed aside a report that Iran acquired satellite images of a base in Jordan from Chinese entities before an attack that killed three US troops there in July. It was reported last month that Beijing is selling billions of dollars' worth of goods to Iran through a sanctions-evasion scheme. China's foreign ministry says it is not aware of this.

Analysts see artificial intelligence as a potential area for cooperation, given its implications for national security, economic competitiveness and military capabilities, and shared US and Chinese concerns about misuse. However, experts say intense competition in the field is likely to limit the scope for anything beyond symbolic agreements. Bessent said after talks with He Lifeng at the weekend that the two sides discussed setting up a new US-China AI dialogue. Rubio said there was nascent thinking about "the equivalent of a hotline that we had during the Cold War" to avoid dangerous incidents that "could impact economies or societies and even lead to a conflict between nation-states."

Dario Amodei, chief executive of US AI firm Anthropic, warned this month that Chinese dominance in AI could pose security risks to the United States, a warning Chinese state media dismissed as coming from a "Cold War playbook." In a UN speech on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his opposition to new regulations on AI technology, saying US law enforcement agencies would rein in the sector if needed.