‘US doing very well with China’: Trump ahead of Xi Jinping’s first White House visit in a decade
President Donald Trump said the United States is “doing very well with China” and expects to discuss several agreements with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his upcoming visit to the White House. This would be Xi’s first visit to the US presidential residence in more than a decade.Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he and Xi had maintained a good relationship and expressed confidence that their meeting would lead to important discussions and potential deals.“I think he’s going to come… It’s nice that we get along very well. We’ve had a good relationship. He’ll be here next week… we’re going to have a very good meeting… would say others maybe not so well, but we’re doing very well with China. And President Xi and I have a good relationship… We are going to have a lot of different deals here… China is paying us a lot of tariffs… It was really hurting them badly, and I didn’t want to do that...” he said.“We’re doing very well with China. I would say others maybe not so well, but we’re doing very well with China. And President Xi and I have a good relationship. We’re going to have a lot of different deals,” Trump said.“We intend, we’re not just doing it for our health. We’re going to have some pretty important meetings,” he added.Trump recalls 145% tariffs on Chinese goodsTrump also spoke about the tariff relationship between the two countries, recalling that US tariffs on Chinese goods had at one point reached 145% before being reduced.“China is paying us a lot of tariffs. And, you remember, I had it up to 145% at one point, but it was too much. It was really hurting them badly, and I didn’t want to do that,” Trump said.He also addressed concerns about Chinese espionage, saying, “Somebody said, ‘Oh, they spy on us.’ And I said, ‘Maybe they do, but we spy on them too…”Earlier, Trump signed into law a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia and Iran, giving his administration expanded powers to penalise countries that continue buying Russian oil and gas, including India.Xi’s White House visitXi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, are scheduled to arrive in Washington this week, with Trump expected to personally greet them at Joint Base Andrews.The two presidents will take part in a formal White House arrival ceremony and military review before holding bilateral talks. The Trumps will host a state dinner for the Chinese delegation in the East Room, with both presidents expected to speak.The guest list is expected to include prominent technology and business leaders such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Michael Dell, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Jane Fraser and Tim Cook, highlighting the importance of technology and trade in the visit, ANI reported.The visit follows Trump’s trip to Beijing in May, when Xi hosted him at the Great Hall of the People. The two leaders then agreed to what they described as a “constructive, strategic and stable relationship”.The US-China tariff truce agreed at the Busan summit last October is due to expire in November. Officials said its future, along with existing licences for chip exports, is expected to be discussed, although no outcome has been decided in advance.Washington has ruled out trading away its export controls on rare-earth flows in exchange for concessions, officials said. At the same time, discussions are under way on reducing tariffs on a limited range of “non-strategic” goods that could benefit both economies.Artificial intelligence is also expected to feature prominently in the talks. Officials said the two sides have discussed ideas such as previewing new AI models and extending oversight to Chinese open-source systems, although no firm agreement has been reached.Washington is also expected to raise concerns over the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals to cartels in Mexico. Trump may again raise the cases of Americans detained in Chinese prisons, based on his previous meetings with Xi.Taiwan remains one of the most sensitive issues in US-China relations. Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington against crossing its “red lines” on Taiwan.The outcome of the Trump-Xi meeting will be closely watched because changes in US-China trade ties could affect global supply chains, technology markets and commodity prices.A lasting easing of trade tensions could alter the outlook for businesses that depend on the two economies, while a renewed dispute over tariffs, chips or rare earths could create fresh uncertainty for global markets.Trump and Xi are also expected to meet later this year at the APEC summit in November and the G20 summit in December, meaning this week’s talks are unlikely to be their final high-level engagement of the year.
