US President Donald Trump’s planned China visit later this month is unlikely to reset US–China ties, with both sides instead focusing on maintaining stability amid tariffs, trade tensions and investment disputes
A planned summit between US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping later this month is unlikely to deliver a major reset in economic relations between the world’s two largest economies, Reuters reported on Monday, citing people familiar with preparations for the meeting.
Instead, officials in US and China appear to be aiming for a more modest outcome: maintaining stability in bilateral ties after a turbulent period marked by tariffs, supply chain tensions and disputes over strategic resources, the report said.
Trump is expected to visit China from March 31 to April 2, though Beijing has not formally confirmed the trip. If it goes ahead, it would be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since they agreed to a trade truce in October last year.
Limited expectations from summit
According to the report, the summit is unlikely to deliver significant progress on long-standing issues such as market access, investment protections or tariff reductions.
American companies had hoped the visit might lead to broader agreements that would improve business and investment ties. However, plans for a high-profile delegation of US chief executives — often a feature of major diplomatic visits — have yet to be finalised.
On the Chinese side, there has also been little indication that Beijing will secure the investment protections it has sought for its companies operating in the United States.
“This feels like an ever-shrinking state visit,” Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, told Reuters. “The ambition for what this trip will accomplish seems to be getting smaller by the day.”
Friction over planning
Preparations for the summit have reportedly frustrated Chinese officials, who say the Trump administration began detailed planning only recently. State visits typically require months of careful coordination, especially in China where such events are highly choreographed.
Officials familiar with the arrangements told Reuters Washington only recently started working-level interagency meetings to plan the trip.
Speaking on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary session in Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said both sides needed to “make thorough preparations” to create conditions for managing their differences.
Trade tensions remain
Trade disputes remain a potential flashpoint between the two countries.
The United States imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods earlier in Trump’s presidency, while China responded with restrictions including tighter control over rare earth exports — materials crucial for electronics, defence equipment and renewable energy technologies.
Last month, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a 10 per cent tariff related to fentanyl imports that the Trump administration had imposed on China and other countries using emergency powers. US officials have indicated the levy could be reintroduced under a different legal framework.
Despite the tensions, Washington has emphasised that the summit is not intended to become a battleground over trade disputes.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the primary goal was to ensure both sides stick to existing agreements, including China’s commitments to purchase American goods.
Possible Boeing deal
One of the potential deliverables from the summit could be a major aircraft order from Boeing.
Negotiations are underway for China to purchase around 500 narrow-body aircraft, accordingteh report. However, such a deal could involve concessions from Washington, including guarantees on long-term supplies of aircraft parts.
Even if agreed, deliveries would likely stretch into the 2030s because of Boeing’s production backlog, the report said.
Some US officials are also considering delaying the announcement of major deals in order to preserve negotiating leverage for future Trump–Xi meetings, including a possible summit in the United States later this year.
Focus on stability
Officials on both sides increasingly view the upcoming meeting as part of a series of engagements aimed at preventing further deterioration in relations rather than resolving deep-rooted disputes.
A meeting in Paris this week between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is expected to focus on identifying possible outcomes for the Beijing summit.
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