Xi Jinping arrives in Washington for a September 24 summit with Donald Trump as China's export engine keeps expanding while Trump's approval ratings sag under a costly Iran war. Preparatory talks in New York produced a US proposal for AI safety notifications but left Taiwan, tariffs and agricultural purchases unresolved.
China's trade engine keeps roaring
Four months after their last meeting, Xi and Trump sit down in Washington on September 24. China's global trade surplus is on pace to top $1 trillion for a second straight year, and more than half of the roughly 6,500 product categories China sold to the US so far this year have grown compared to 2025.
Analysts say Xi is in no rush to make concessions. Trump, meanwhile, is constrained by a costly war with Iran that has hurt both his popularity and Americans' wallets. According to Scott Kennedy, an expert on the US-China economic relationship at CSIS: "Now this is Xi Jinping's world, and we're all living in it."
A delegation of Chinese business leaders is set to accompany Xi to Washington, mirroring the group of US CEOs Trump brought to Beijing in May. The main question for the summit is whether the two leaders will signal an extension of the trade truce struck last year.
Preparatory talks focus on AI and tariffs
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng led preparatory talks in New York on Sunday, where the US side proposed a new AI safety notification mechanism covering AI-related incidents that rise to a national security level. Xinhua's readout only briefly acknowledged the AI discussion, describing the broader talks as "frank, in-depth and constructive."
The talks also covered plans to operationalize the "Board of Trade," a process agreed in May under which each side would identify potential tariff cuts on non-strategic goods. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said export controls on sophisticated AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment were not on the agenda for the AI mechanism discussions. Neither side reported progress on the flow of critical minerals to US companies.
Taiwan and unresolved pledges loom over summit
Taiwan remains the most sensitive issue heading into the meeting. Trump has described a pending $14 billion arms package for Taiwan as a "negotiating chip" with Beijing, and officials in Taipei and Tokyo worry he could trade it for political wins ahead of November's midterm elections.
Other commitments from the May meeting in Beijing also remain outstanding, including Chinese pledges to increase purchases of US agricultural goods by $17 billion a year and to buy more than 200 Boeing aircraft. Washington had also hoped Xi could pressure Iran to end its war with the US, but Xi has shown little inclination to do so.
Sources: Investing.com, Investing.com
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