China has resisted the Trump administration's urgings — and economic threats — to use its considerable Leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the nearly seven-month war. Xi wants to see Trump permanently halt arms sales to Taiwan and loosen export restrictions on cutting-edge advanced chips. And the two sides on Wednesday agreed to extend a one-year trade truce set to expire Nov. 10 for two months, kicking the can on finding a more durable agreement.
All the while, both leaders seem to believe that time is on their side as they look to outmaneuver the other in what is expected to be the world's most significant economic and national security competition for years to come.
“The president very much believes that over time the U.S. economy is going to grow, the U.S. will get stronger, the U.S. will keep making advances in AI and on technology, and that ... the U.S. will develop alternative sources of critical minerals and rare earths,” said Edgard Kagan, a former senior State Department official handling East Asia policy issues under Trump and President Joe Biden. “I think when Xi Jinping sits down with Donald Trump, he very much believes the U.S. is in hurtling decline and that time is on China’s side.”
Trump, for his part, is going all in on the pomp for the state visit for Xi.
In a grand gesture, the Republican leader kicked off the visit by showing up to greet Xi and his wife upon their arrival on Wednesday evening at joint base Andrews just outside Washington.
US and China still have work to do on trade truce
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two leaders may be open to a new "notification mechanism" for Ai incidents that could affect national security. But on AI and a host of other thorny issues, it remains unclear whether the leaders can make progress.
Shortly after Xi's arrival in Washington on Wednesday, Bessent announced on Fox News that the two sides had come to terms on extending the trade truce, forged last year in Busan, South Korea. He said it's possible that Trump and Xi could come to a larger agreement by January or just decide to once again extend it further.
