Xi Jinping visits Washington for two-day summit with Trump covering AI, rare earths, trade, and geopolitics
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday for a two-day state visit with President Trump, his first official state visit to the United States in more than a decade. The agenda includes discussions on artificial intelligence, rare earth minerals, trade, and geopolitical issues including Taiwan and Iran. A state dinner Thursday evening in the White House East Room will feature prominent technology and business executives including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Jensen Huang.
Trump personally welcomed Xi at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday as the Chinese leader's delegation arrived. Thursday's schedule began with a State Arrival Ceremony featuring 479 military personnel from all branches and a multi-aircraft flyover on the South Lawn, Rose Garden, and State Floor of the White House. The two leaders are expected to hold a tightly scheduled day of meetings before the state dinner in the East Room, which Melania Trump's office described as featuring "American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence."
The summit comes four months after the two leaders last met in Beijing in May, where they reached an agreement under which China committed to purchase at least $17 billion a year in U.S. agricultural products, approve an initial order of 200 Boeing aircraft, restore market access for American beef, resume poultry imports, and establish new bilateral boards on trade and investment. Reuters reported that implementation has been uneven: China is making progress toward finalizing the Boeing aircraft purchase, but agricultural imports are projected to fall short of agreed levels, and the new trade and investment boards are still being put into operation.
On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries had agreed to extend a trade truce — originally struck in Busan — until January, though NPR reported that Beijing had not officially confirmed the extension. The Congressional Research Service estimated the U.S. average tariff rate on Chinese goods in July at more than 36%, with China's rate on U.S. goods around 30%. Economists cited by NPR expect the two leaders to agree to a one-year extension of the Busan truce.