Trump aims to clinch deal with China’s Xi during Asia trip
Leaving Washington on Friday night, Trump will embark on a five-day trip that includes Malaysia, Japan and South Korea; This will be his first and longest trip abroad to the region since taking office in January.
The Republican leader hopes to put together trade, critical mineral and ceasefire deals before meeting Xi face-to-face in South Korea on Thursday, his toughest challenge yet.
While Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to rage and its trade war with China shows little sign of ending, Trump is also working to maintain the signature foreign policy achievement of his second term: the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict that he helped broker.
USA AND CHINA, TRADE THREATS ON IMPORTANT MINERALS AND TECHNOLOGY
Washington and Beijing have increased tariffs on each other’s exports and threatened to completely cut off trade in critical minerals and technologies.
The trip was officially announced by the White House on Thursday. Details continue to change, including a meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore the terms of trade that existed before Trump takes office for a second term in January, according to a person familiar with the talks. Instead, talks between the two sides in preparation for the meeting focused on managing disputes and modest improvements.
An interim deal could include limited relief on tariffs, an extension of existing rates or a commitment by China to buy U.S.-made soybeans and Boeing planes. Beijing reneged on similar promises in the 2020 deal with Trump.
Washington could allow more high-end computer chips to flow to Beijing, loosening controls on rare earth magnets that angered Trump.
Or nothing could come of the talks.
On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump-Xi meeting would be a “retreat” and did not represent anything official. Trump later told reporters that the two would have “a pretty lengthy meeting” that would allow them to “solve together a lot of our questions, our doubts, and our tremendous assets.”
China did not confirm that a meeting was planned.
TRUMP WILL VISIT THREE COUNTRIES AND MEET WITH WORLD LEADERS
Mira Rapp-Hooper, a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution and a former Biden administration official, said Trump’s Asia policy is defined by intense pressure on countries’ trade policies and defense spending.
“The high-level question on this trip is really who the United States is on and what it represents,” he said.
Trump is expected to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, which will begin on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
There he could oversee the signing of the ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia. The deal would formalize a deal that ended the worst conflict between the two countries in years in July, but it falls short of a comprehensive peace deal. In his second term in office, Trump has branded himself as a global peacemaker.
After this stop, Trump will go to Japan to meet with newly elected prime minister Sanae Takaichi. Takaichi is expected to approve his predecessor’s plans to increase military spending and $550 billion in Trump-led investments in the United States
Trump then plans to meet with Xi ahead of an international trade summit in Busan, South Korea. According to the schedule announced by the White House on Thursday, Trump is preparing to return to Washington before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ forum begins.
Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to nearly 155 percent as of November 1 if a deal is not reached. This would almost certainly prompt a response from Beijing and end the ceasefire that has halted tit-for-tat escalations.
Beyond trade, the two leaders are expected to discuss Taiwan, which has long been a US-China irritant, and China’s ally Russia, which is currently subject to expanded US sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
“Apart from China’s trade, export controls and purchases of Russian oil, the US side has no intention of discussing other issues,” according to a US official, who said he would be ready to reiterate Trump’s previous responses if Xi brings up other issues.
AGREEMENT OR NOT AGREEMENT
It is unclear whether Trump will try to resume trade talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is also traveling in Asia after abruptly breaking off talks. Another official said the two “will probably see each other” at a dinner with other leaders on Wednesday.
Trump is also trying to finalize trade deals with Malaysia and India, while also trying to bolster an agreement already made with South Korea.
Relations between the United States and South Korea have been strained over Seoul’s concerns about Trump’s $350 billion investment in US companies and the deportation of foreign workers in the country.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wants Trump to make peace with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. U.S. officials considered but never approved a trip to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, according to another person familiar with the discussions. Another US official said Friday that a Kim-Trump meeting was not on the trip’s schedule.
