The trip comes at a critical moment in relations between the world’s two largest economies, as both sides attempt to preserve a fragile trade truce following years of escalating tariffs and economic rivalry.
Executives from major American companies, including Boeing, Citigroup and Qualcomm, are also expected to accompany Trump, with potential business agreements reportedly on the agenda.
Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing intensified in April 2025 when Trump introduced sweeping import tariffs on countries across the globe, including China. The move triggered a tit-for-tat trade war, with both nations imposing tariffs exceeding 100% on each other’s goods.
The tariffs were temporarily paused after Trump and Xi met face-to-face in South Korea in October last year, but tensions and threats from both sides have continued.
The roots of the trade conflict trace back to Trump’s first presidency in 2018, when he imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, arguing that the United States had been treated unfairly in global trade and needed to revive domestic manufacturing.
The measures marked the beginning of a major economic confrontation between the two powers and caught many in China off guard, particularly because the Chinese economy was then heavily dependent on exports to the United States.
At the time, China was already facing economic pressures, including weak domestic consumption, rising unemployment, and a prolonged property sector crisis, making access to the US market especially important for Chinese manufacturers and workers.
When former President Joe Biden took office in 2021, his administration maintained most of Trump’s tariffs and continued policies aimed at limiting China’s technological expansion.
The Biden administration also imposed restrictions on Chinese firms, including Huawei, citing national security concerns, while scrutinising the operations of TikTok in the United States.
