Trump to seek tangible trade wins in Xi summit

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BEIJING - US President Donald Trump will seek trade wins during final meetings with Mr Xi Jinping on May 15 at a superpower summit overshadowed by the Chinese leader’s uncharacteristically sharp warning on Taiwan.

The US leader is hoping to seal business deals in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, but will also look for geopolitical progress in areas including the Middle East war.

Mr Trump’s overtures to Mr Xi, whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend”, have so far been met with more muted tones by the Chinese leader.

The warm handshakes and pomp a day earlier was overshadowed by a blunt warning from Mr Xi that missteps on the sensitive issue of Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict”.

Mr Trump did not comment on Taiwan to reporters on May 14, but US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the president would say more “in the coming days”.

The 79-year-old Mr Trump did discuss another critical subject however, the war against Iran, telling Fox News in an interview that Mr Xi effectively assured his counterpart that China was not preparing to militarily aid Tehran.

“He said he’s not going to give military equipment... he said that strongly”, Mr Trump told Fox after the leaders met, adding that Mr Xi would “like to see the Hormuz Strait open” for maritime transport of oil and other critical products.

Mr Trump also responded to a comment by Mr Xi referring to the “Thucydides Trap”, a political theory that war becomes more likely when a rising new power competes with an established great power.

Mr Xi, however, said the United States and China could “transcend” this danger.

In a social media post in the early hours of May 15, Mr Trump said Mr Xi “very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation”.

Mr Trump said Mr Xi was not referring to the United States under his watch, which he claimed was experiencing an “incredible rise”, but rather the country under his predecessor Joe Biden.

“Two years ago, we were, in fact, a Nation in decline,” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social site. “Now, the United States is the hottest Nation anywhere in the world, and hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before!”

He said that Mr Xi “congratulated me on so many tremendous successes”.

CEO firepower

Mr Trump on May 15 is expected to turn discussions to trade. He is accompanied by a host of US business leaders including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.

Mr Trump, in his Fox appearance, appeared to announce one of the big business deals by saying China had agreed to purchase “200 big” Boeing jets.

Shares of the US aviation giant fell after Mr Trump’s comments, in a sign the market had expected a more robust purchase from China.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi were discussing setting up “guardrails” for the use of artificial intelligence, Mr Bessent told CNBC.

Mr Bessent said the world’s “two AI superpowers are going to start talking”, though US export controls on the advanced technology to China remain a sore point in relations.

The two sides are embroiled in a number of outstanding disputes and areas of contention, not least the US-Israeli war in the Middle East, which has seen Tehran close the vital Strait of Hormuz, hitting Chinese and global oil supplies.

In its brief readout, the White House said the leaders had “agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy”, an issue which analysts have said could weaken Mr Trump’s position, having already forced him to postpone this trip, originally planned for late March.

Mr Trump’s visit to Beijing is the first by an American president in nearly a decade. AFP