United States President Donald Trump has told reporters that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was expected to take place as planned, may not occur. This is coming after news filtered that the duo had agreed to meet in two weeks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in South Korea.
Speaking about the development from the White House Rose Garden during a meeting with Republican lawmakers, Donald Trump claims he believes the meeting could result in a strong engagement, but noted that maybe it won’t happen. “I have a great relationship with President Xi. I expect to be able to make a good deal with him,” Trump said.
He also added, “I want him to make a good deal for China — but it’s got to be fair.” Trump claims he views the possible sit-down as “very successful,” but didn’t rule out the chance of it falling apart completely. “Maybe somebody will say, ‘I don’t want to meet, it’s too nasty.’ But it’s really not nasty. It’s just business,” Trump added.
Trump pushes for a deal amid trade fight escalation with China
Donald Trump mentioned that they were yet to finalize the date and time for the meeting, but claims he expects it to happen very soon, with reporters quoting a two-week window. He also made it clear that the United States will continue to push for changes in the trade relationship, whether the meeting with Jinping takes place or not. The agenda for that potential conversation is expected to include fentanyl, soybean exports, Taiwan, and the current fight over rare earth materials, which has escalated sharply in recent weeks.
Ahead of the anticipated meeting between Trump and Jinping, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to meet with Chinese counterparts this weekend. The plan is to work on reducing tensions after China rolled out new restrictions on rare earth exports and Trump responded by threatening more tariffs on Chinese products. This back-and-forth has added to the uncertainty around the summit and what could come out of it.
On Monday, a day before his latest remarks about Jinping, Trump met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House. Both leaders signed a new agreement to team up on developing supply chains for rare earths and critical minerals. That move directly challenges China, the world’s biggest supplier of rare earths, and came right after its announcement that it would tighten controls on those materials. That decision by China was made earlier this month.
Meanwhile, China has responded following the agreement between the United States and Australia. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy, told FOX Business that “the global industrial and supply chains came into shape as a result of the choices of the market and businesses.” Liu also added that countries with mineral resources “need to play a positive role in keeping relevant industrial and supply chains safe and stable and to ensure normal trade and economic cooperation.”
