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Key issues for this week’s Trump-Xi summit

By Sohail Khan 22 September 2026, 10:19 am

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Business News›News›International›World News›Key issues for this week's Trump-Xi summit in Washington

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Key issues for this week's Trump-Xi summit in Washington
Synopsis

President Trump welcomes Chinese leader Xi Jinping for crucial talks this week. They seek stability in a relationship strained by trade and global issues. Key discussions will focus on trade tariffs and potential agricultural deals. Taiwan's status and China's role in Iran's economy are also on the agenda. Artificial intelligence cooperation and competition will be another significant topic.

US President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks this week, seeking stability in trade relations. — File Photo: US President Trump welcomes Chinese leader Xi Jinping for crucial talks this week, seeks stability in a relationship strained by trade and global issues.

U.S. President Donald Trump will welcome Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week for their second meeting this year, as the two leaders seek stability in a relationship under pressure over issues ranging from trade to Taiwan and Iran, as well as global worries about artificial intelligence.

Xi arrives in Washington on Wednesday for the first time in more than a decade. In the four months since the leaders of the two superpowers met in Beijing in May, Xi has overseen a surge in China's trade with the world, while Trump – mired in the Iran war and with low approval ratings – is looking for economic wins he can tout to Americans unhappy with rising prices.

Read more: US, China seek to steady ties ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Here are some of the key issues for their summitat the White House on Thursday:

TRADE TRUCE OR BACK TO TRADE WAR?

Markets will watch for signs of an extension of a tariff truce announced after a Trump-Xi summit in South Korea last October and set to expire on November 10. That deal paused a trade war in which the world's two largest economies threatened global supply chains with tit-for-tat tariffs that topped 100%.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said this month the countries will 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 U.S. agricultural imports.

Read more: US seeks 'AI dialogue' with China as officials set stage for Trump-Xi summit

JETS, FARM PRODUCE

Trump will be looking to announce trade wins ahead of November midterm congressional elections, including by locking in high-profile purchases of Boeing aircraft and agricultural products.

Greer said on Monday China is making progress on a commitment to buy 200 Boeings but gave no indication that any 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.

However, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg last week played down some expectations among industry analysts that China ⁠could make another Boeing order around the Trump-Xi talks.

"I think there'll be an increment of orders going forward," he told an investor conference. "They're going to be announced by the airlines at their pace, however they want to announce those."

Industry sources say a larger deal has been stalled for years as Trump has threatened to cut off China's access to critical spare engine parts.

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, Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said last week Trump should press Xi to honor those commitments and follow through on pledges to open its market to more US beef exports.

CHINA GRIP ON RARE EARTHS

Beijing has been pressing the US to further delay a rule that would bar thousands of Chinese firms from receiving advanced US technology, while Washington wants Beijing to ease shipments of rare earths and critical mineralsvital for high-tech applications spanning automobile to aerospace manufacturing, as well as defense.

Experts say Trump has taken a less combative approach than usual ahead of his meeting with Xi because of China's growing power thanks to 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 to slap steep tariffs on Chinese imports or to ban exports of US technology, in contrast to the aggressive stances that preceded previous summits. Last year, in retaliation against Trump's tariffs, China curbed rare earth exports and sent shockwaves through world markets.

TAIWAN

US allies in Asia have grown increasingly concerned that in order to lock in economic wins, Trump may be tempted to soften Washington's support for Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China.

Taiwan strongly objects to the sovereignty claims.

While the US, like most ‌countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it is its 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".

As well as arms, people familiar with Chinese efforts told Reuters that Beijing also hopes to persuade Trump to state publicly that the US opposes Taiwan's independence instead of saying only that it does not support independence, which has been 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, Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, wrote in a reference to Taiwan and US allies in Asia that Chinese objections to US arms sales and security cooperation should be "rejected out of hand."

IRAN WAR

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.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Trump and Xi would continue discussions on China's financial ties to Tehran during the summit. But 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.

Reuters 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.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

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 between the countries is likely to limit the scope for anything beyond symbolic agreements.

Bessent said after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at the weekend that the two sides discussed setting up a new US-China AI dialogue. This would include a notification system for common goals and common threats that would cover AI-related incidents that rise to a national security level.

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.

Chinese state media dismissed this warning as coming from a "Cold War playbook," while Trump has brushed aside calls to slow AI development, saying that "very negative forces" were raising exaggerated concerns.

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Trump Xi summitUS China trade relationsChina trade warTaiwan US relationsartificial intelligence US ChinaUS agriculture exports to ChinaIran China relationsrare earth minerals ChinaBoeing orders ChinaTrump approval ratings

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