President Donald Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a highly anticipated meeting of leaders of the world’s two largest economies, the visit announced as the Supreme Court overturned Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imported goods. A White House official confirmed the visit on Friday, just before the U.S. Supreme Court handed Trump a crushing defeat by striking down many of the tariffs he has used in the global trade war, including some against rival China.
Talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on extending a visit to Beijing were expected to center on extending a trade truce to prevent the two countries from further raising tariffs.
Ruling raises questions for U.S.-China relations
But the Supreme Court’s reversal raises new questions in strained U.S.-China relations, which have stabilized recently after Trump cut tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing taking steps including cracking down on the illegal fentanyl trade and suspending export restrictions on critical minerals.
The 20% tariff on Chinese exports to the United States was imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and the court ruled that Trump violated the act. These tariffs are related to national emergencies related to fentanyl distribution and trade imbalances.
Other tariffs on Chinese goods, including those imposed by legislative trade authorities under Articles 301 and 232, remain in effect.
It’s unclear how many tariffs Trump will reinstate, but he said at a press conference that he would impose new global tariffs of 10% for 150 days.
Trump’s last visit to China was in 2017, which was also the most recent visit to China by a US president.
“It’s going to be a crazy game,” Trump told foreign leaders visiting Washington on Thursday about his upcoming trip to China. “We’ve got to put on the biggest exhibition in China’s history.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the date of the visit, which was first reported by Reuters. Beijing has not yet confirmed the trip.
Trump treats trade imbalances as national emergency
The Trump administration says the global tariffs are necessary because national emergencies related to trade imbalances have crippled U.S. manufacturing.
Scott Kennedy, an expert on China’s economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Trump has “been on the defensive” in the trade war given the effectiveness of Beijing’s threats to cut off rare earth supplies. He said the tariff failure may have “cemented his weakness in their eyes.” Kennedy said Chinese officials “like the direction the United States is taking in the weakened bilateral relationship, and they want to prevent further escalation.” Trump’s visit will be the first face-to-face talks between the two leaders since meeting in South Korea in October, when they agreed to a trade truce.
Although the October meeting largely avoided the sensitive issue of Taiwan, Xi Jinping raised the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan when the two leaders spoke this month.
China considers democratically governed Taiwan to be its own territory, a position Taipei rejects. The United States is legally bound to provide Taiwan with the means of self-defense, has established formal diplomatic relations with China, but maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan, and is Taiwan’s most important arms supplier. Washington in December announced approval of its largest-ever arms sales to Taiwan, including $11.1 billion worth of weapons that could ostensibly be used to defend against Chinese attacks. More such sales are expected in Taiwan.
Xi Jinping also said during a conference call in February that he would consider further increasing soybean purchases, according to Trump. Struggling U.S. farmers are a key political constituency for Trump, and China is the largest soybean consumer. Analysts said on Friday that China may be unlikely to make another large-scale purchase of U.S. soybeans following the Supreme Court ruling. While Trump says tough policy measures from countries such as Canada, Greenland and Venezuela are necessary to contain China, he has eased policy toward Beijing in areas such as tariffs, advanced computer chips and drones in the past few months.
The global trade war launched by Trump after he began his second presidential term in January 2025 has alienated other trading partners, including allies. Critics argue that imposing high tariffs on countries effectively insulates Beijing from the tariffs and reduces incentives to move supply chains out of China.
Martin Jozeppa, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Friday’s ruling could indirectly increase pressure on Beijing if other countries, especially those in Southeast Asia, reduce effective tariffs more than China.
“Unlike many other countries, most of the tariffs imposed on China have a well-established and legally more durable mechanism, which makes them less affected than other countries,” Joe Zampa said.
