Trump to Meet Xi in Beijing Amid Trade Tensions

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing in May for his first trip to China in eight years, where he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping amid lingering trade tensions that escalated sharply in 2025 before easing through negotiations.

The visit, delayed from an earlier date due to the ongoing Iran war, follows a year of tit-for-tat tariffs that disrupted global supply chains but ultimately failed to significantly weaken China's manufacturing sector. Upon taking office in January 2025, Trump imposed an initial 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods, followed by sweeping increases announced on April 2 as part of what he called Liberation Day measures. These hikes, totaling 34 percentage points that month, prompted China to retaliate with export restrictions on rare earth elements and other critical minerals essential to U.S. industries. Levies on both sides quickly surpassed 100 percent, leading to widespread order cancellations and production halts among Chinese exporters.

For Agilian Technology, an electronics manufacturer in Dongguan producing components for Western brands, the tariffs froze more than half of its revenue from U.S. clients for months. Pallets of...