Overview
- A White House official confirmed President Donald Trump will travel to China March 31–April 2 for talks with President Xi Jinping focused on economic ties and a possible extension of the current trade truce.
- The trip was confirmed just before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down large parts of Trump-era tariffs, a ruling widely seen as complicating Washington’s negotiating leverage.
- Taiwan is expected to be a sensitive topic, with Beijing protesting a December U.S. approval of $11.1 billion in arms sales and Xi recently calling Taiwan the most important issue in U.S.–China relations.
- Preparations include recent contacts between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, while formal details of Trump’s itinerary and delegation have not been released.
- Trump has cast the visit as a high-profile event, calling for the “biggest display,” and this will be his first trip to China since 2017 with a potential reciprocal Xi visit to the United States discussed for later this year.