What’s on the Agenda for Trump and China?
Chinese President Xi Jinping begins a three-day state visit to Washington this week, his first since 2015 and third meeting with President Donald Trump in the past year, with AI, trade and Taiwan set to dominate the agenda.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the US-China trade relationship. A US-China trade truce reached in October 2025, under which Washington suspended steep tariff hikes while Beijing eased rare earth export restrictions, is set to expire in November. According to the BBC, talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week failed to produce meaningful progress ahead of Xi’s arrival.
The US trade deficit with China stands at more than $91 billion, and Chinese rare earth exports to the US remain down despite last year’s agreement.
Artificial intelligence is also high on the agenda. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Washington has proposed an AI safety notification mechanism that would allow the two countries to alert each other about incidents reaching the level of a national security concern.
Taiwan remains another sensitive issue. China’s ambassador to the US warned this week that Taiwan and human rights remain “red lines” that “must not be challenged.”
The meeting also comes as China’s economic and technological position has changed considerably since Xi’s last US state visit. China now has major global influence in manufacturing, electric vehicles, renewable energy, AI and rare-earth supply chains.