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President Donald Trump is still on track to visit China next week, where he is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping to discuss key points of trade and business, even amid the United States’ ongoing war with Iran.
“I’m going to go see President Xi in two weeks, I look forward to that,” President Trump said in recent comments at the White House. “But I’ll say, ‘I’m leading.’ We have very friendly competition…actually, it’ll be a very important trip.”
This official visit was postponed earlier this year due to the war with Iran. “We’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” President Trump said in March.
While the trip could still be canceled, considering heightened tensions amid America’s war against Iran, the president’s travel plans, tentatively slated for May 14-15, still stand.
This trip marks the first time President Trump has returned to China since 2017. During that early visit, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were given a historic tour of the Forbidden City in Beijing by President Xi Jinping.
Things may look a little different this year. According to China Focus, there may be a considerable amount of pomp and circumstance surrounding this state visit, but the stakes remain high: the two leaders are expected to discuss Taiwan, the war in the Middle East, and key trade details centered on the race to innovate with artificial intelligence, American farm products (imports) and rare earth minerals (exports).
Notably, this visit also comes just months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s authority to levy tariffs broadly under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). This will almost certainly change the negotiating dynamics between Trump and Xi, as President Trump was utilizing stiff tariffs to deal with China, most importantly to stem the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
According to Vanda Felbab-Brown, writing for Brookings, fentanyl and synthetic opioids coming in from China are still a big problem, and it is unclear how the Trump administration will address it now that tariffs – a key pressure point just a few months ago – are off the table.
The U.S. conflict with Iran will also provide important context to next week’s meeting. President Trump may ask Xi to assist the U.S. with reopening the Strait of Hormuz – the key shipping channel that has remained closed since the start of the war.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested as much in a recent interview with Fox News. “Let’s see [China] step up with some diplomacy and get the Iranians to open the Strait,” he suggested.
He later added, “The threat of attacks from Iran has closed the Strait. We are reopening it. So, I would urge the Chinese to join us in supporting this international operation.”
A report from CNN noted that Beijing has not “officially” confirmed President Trump’s travel schedule to China, so the meeting could be subject to change at any time.
President Trump’s son, Eric Trump, is additionally expected to travel alongside his father in a personal capacity for this state visit to China, as reported by RSBN.
