Follow live updates from President Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping in China.
The summit between the leaders of the United States and China in Beijing this week represents a pivotal moment for a global economy that has been upended by war and trade tensions over the past year.
President Trump and China’s supreme leader Xi Jinping will have a busy agenda to manage as the world’s two largest economies look for ways to cooperate on geopolitical issues and resolve differences over tariffs, export controls, Taiwan, sanctions and the purchase of American agricultural products.
Mr. Trump will try to open the Chinese market to American companies. But he also wants China to use its influence over Iran as the country’s main oil buyer to force Iran’s leadership to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Xi will most likely seek further tariff relief from the United States, an easing of American sanctions against Chinese buyers of Iranian oil, and a Withdrawal from US policy in support of Taiwan independence.
Here are some of the key areas of tension between the world’s largest economies.
China’s trade practices
China’s efforts to build domestic industries have pushed rivals around the world out of business. This continues to anger American businesses and policymakers.
In a lengthy report released earlier this week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Rhodium Group documented how China’s industrial policy has only increased in recent years, evolving from a focus on building future industries like car batteries and solar panels to an “industrial policy for everything,” including raw materials and technologies like AI. China’s dominance in a wide range of industries prevents other countries from diversifying outside the country or developing key industries of their own.
It is unclear whether these issues will be a focus at this week’s presidential summit. After pressing China on these issues during Trump’s first term, the administration appears determined that the country will not change.
Jamieson Greer, the U.S. Trade Representative, said at a conference in Washington in April that the United States would no longer pretend that China would become a market economy. “You won’t pick up Mao’s Little Red Book and swear, ‘We won’t be communists.'”
Tariffs
Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products have been a major source of tension between the two nations. They, too, have been in dramatic change in recent months due to litigation in the United States.
Before the Supreme Court invalidated Mr. Trump’s sweeping global tariffs in a February ruling, 20 percent tariffs had been levied on China in addition to other existing levies, including from other trade cases and Mr. Trump’s first trade war with China.
After the Supreme Court decision, the Trump administration imposed another global tariff of 10 percent, which also affected China. But last week a commercial court declared that tariff illegal as well, a decision the administration immediately appealed.
The Trump administration is planning additional tariffs that could take their place. Two trade cases have been opened that are expected to result in tariffs this summer. One relates to forced labor laws and the other to industrial production, both issues that have linked the United States to China in recent years.
Chinese officials are likely to push for lower tariffs in the talks. But the administration may not have as much leeway to reduce its tariffs on China without them falling below the rates paid by other countries. That could be seen as unfair, given that China is widely considered America’s biggest trade rival.
Shopping on the farm
The fallout from trade disputes between the United States and China tends to hit American farmers.
China has retaliated against U.S. tariffs in the past by boycotting purchases of American agricultural products. China is one of the biggest customers of American agricultural exporters, and soybean farmers in particular were hit hard last year as China shifted its purchases to countries like Brazil.
China tends to target American farmers because they are a politically influential group that largely supports Mr. Trump’s agenda.
When the United States and China reached a trade peace last October, China agreed to resume buying American soybeans. China has agreed to buy 12 million tonnes of soybeans from the US in 2025 and at least 25 million tonnes in each of the next three years.
Mr. Trump says he regularly encourages Mr. Xi to increase China’s purchases of American agricultural products, and he will likely look for a way to bring home a profit to U.S. farmers.
Rare earths
China dominates global production of rare earth minerals and magnets, which are needed by a host of U.S. companies that make everything from cars and weapons to power tools. Over the past year, these minerals have become a key negotiating tool in U.S.-China relations.
Starting last year, China introduced export controls that allowed it to withhold shipments of rare earths and magnets made from them, forcing Mr. Trump to roll back his tariffs. Since then, U.S. officials have focused on ensuring a steady supply of minerals.
While China’s mineral exports have rebounded since last year, U.S. companies remain deeply concerned about long-term supplies. Trump administration officials are expected to push China to ease its controls and extend the life of rare earth licenses.
Military in the Pacific
This issue, the biggest ongoing source of tension in the relationship, includes Taiwan, China’s territorial ambitions in the South and East China Seas, and American cooperation with allies and partners.
Years ago, Chinese officials concluded that the United States was pursuing a policy of containment toward China, particularly its military buildup and activities. In the eyes of many of them, it is the dominant U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific that is preventing the Communist Party from taking over Taiwan or expanding its operations beyond what they and American officials call the “first island chain.”
Chinese officials have talked about urging Mr. Trump to use clear language and say he does not support or, even more strongly, opposes Taiwan independence. And Mr. Xi has urged Mr. Trump to stop selling arms to Taiwan. The Trump administration has delayed or stopped announcing a roughly $13 billion package approved by Congress. Some lawmakers and advisers have accused government officials of trying to appease Mr. Xi with this freeze ahead of the summit.
But China is also concerned about other aspects of U.S. military activity and cooperation in the region, including American surveillance flights off the Chinese coast, missiles sent to Japan and the Philippines, and a nuclear submarine deal with Australia. However, the Pentagon had to withdraw significant resources from the region in order to use them in the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Iran and Russia
Mr. Trump could push China to try to persuade these two countries, partners of Beijing, to engage in diplomacy with the United States. In the case of Iran, China has pushed Iran to the table in recent weeks, although the first round of high-level talks in Pakistan did not lead to further face-to-face negotiations. Instead, the US and Iran are making trade proposals.
The Chinese economy, like many others around the world, has suffered from rising oil prices and an attempt by the U.S. Navy to block Iranian ports from which oil is shipped to China. So China has an incentive to push for an end to the war. But the Chinese government is also allowing some companies to export dual-use and potentially military equipment to Iran, something Mr. Trump has pointed out.
Russia is China’s most powerful partner and there is a close bond between Vladimir V. Putin and Mr. Xi. Both seek to curb America’s global power and, in their eyes, restore their own countries to their former imperial glory. For Russia, this meant carrying out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine starting in 2022. Trump and his envoys have tried to persuade Russia and Ukraine to reach a peace settlement but have so far failed, and so the American president may turn to Mr. Xi for help.
Sanctions
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on independent Chinese oil refineries in recent weeks as part of America’s campaign to cripple Iran’s economy.
This has opened up a new focal point. China has invoked a domestic policy to shield Chinese firms from the sanctions, essentially telling refiners to ignore them. The conflict comes as China separates itself from the Western financial system and promotes wider international use of its currency, the renminbi.
Concerns of the US economy
China’s treatment of American companies will also be a contentious issue.
U.S. companies are also deeply concerned about other Chinese regulations that allow Beijing to investigate and punish foreign companies that stop using Chinese suppliers because of foreign pressure. U.S. companies also complain about other trade practices from China, but do not appear confident that these issues will be the focus of the upcoming summit.
The Chinese government said last month that it would require Meta’s acquisition of Manus, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence company with Chinese founders, to be reversed, which could deter other Chinese entrepreneurs from seeking contacts with foreign partners.
This comes after Chinese officials said in January that they would investigate whether Meta’s acquisition of Manus late last year violated the country’s foreign investment rules.
And a representative from a Chinese think tank addressed Anthropic representatives at a meeting in Singapore last month to insist that the company change its stance and give Beijing access to its powerful new model of artificial intelligence.