US President Donald Trump is considering a visit to China ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled from October 30 to November 1, or alternatively, may hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the summit’s sidelines in South Korea, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.
The report, citing multiple sources, comes amid ongoing efforts by both nations to de-escalate an intensifying tariff dispute that has upended global trade and supply chains.
While discussions about a potential meeting between the leaders in the region this year have taken place, a firm date or location has yet to be confirmed by either side, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Trump has sought to impose tariffs on nearly all foreign goods imported into the US, asserting that such measures will stimulate domestic manufacturing. Critics, however, argue that these tariffs ultimately lead to higher prices for American consumers.
He has called for a universal base tariff rate of 10% on goods imported from all countries, with higher rates for imports from the most “problematic” ones, including China: imports from there now have the highest tariff rate of 55%.
Trump has set a deadline of August 12 for the US and China to reach a durable tariffs agreement.
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment about the reported plans for a meeting with Xi in the autumn.
The two countries’ most recent high-level meeting was on July 11, when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had what both described as a productive and positive meeting in Malaysia about how trade negotiations should proceed.
Rubio said then that Trump had been invited to China to meet with Xi, and said that both leaders “want it to happen.”
On Friday, China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said China wants to bring its trade ties with the US back to a stable footing and that recent talks in Europe showed there was no need for a tariff war.
