White House announces Trump–Xi meeting

US President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week as part of a trip to Asia, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday.

Trump will depart for Malaysia and South Korea, where he will meet Xi next Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC). Leavitt did not provide any details on the content of the meeting.

The announcement comes amid the escalating trade war between the countries. Trump last week threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods starting in November. 

It marked a sharp escalation in tensions following Beijing’s decision to introduce tighter export restrictions on the export of rare-earths, though he has said earlier that the high levies are “not sustainable.” The new Beijing policy does not explicitly target the US, but American high-tech companies are highly dependent on Chinese rare-earth supplies.

While Trump said weeks ago that he would meet with Xi at the APEC summit, he didn’t announce the exact date. He, however, also floated the possibility of scrapping their meeting altogether amid anger over Chinese export curbs on rare-earth minerals.

Later on Wednesday, the US president claimed that the two leaders would come to agreements on everything from trade to nuclear power. He said he also plans to address China’s purchase of Russian oil.

The meeting in South Korea will be the first face-to-face for the leaders since Trump returned to power in January. They have spoken at least three times this year but last met in person in 2019, during Trump’s first White House term.