Trump’s Trip to Beijing | Council on Foreign Relations

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Trump arrives in China today with a delegation of administration officials and CEOs for high-stakes talks on trade and international security. The two countries have walked back last year’s full-throttle economic war, though tensions have flared again in recent weeks over China’s economic ties with Iran. Trump said yesterday he believes his “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping will continue, while China’s foreign ministry said today that Beijing looks to cooperate with Washington in the spirit of “equality, respect, and mutual benefit.” The trip is expected to cover…

Trade. Trump told reporters yesterday that trade would dominate his discussions with Xi, and wrote on social media that he would ask Xi to “open up” China to U.S. firms such as Boeing, Goldman Sachs, and Nvidia, whose CEOs are traveling with him. The two are also expected to discuss a proposal for a new board to help govern bilateral trade, multiple news outlets reported.

Taiwan. Trump plans to discuss Chinese opposition to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan with Xi, he told reporters. His comment appeared to run counter to a long-held U.S. pledge not to consult with Beijing on the matter, though a State Department spokesperson said yesterday that Washington remained committed to its Taiwan policies. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio similarly said last week that U.S. policy toward Taiwan has not changed.

The Iran war. The conflict has strained energy flows to China, previously the world’s largest importer of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. While Washington has blockaded Iranian oil bound for China and sanctioned Chinese buyers, Trump downplayed how central the war would be to the talks, telling reporters “we have Iran very much under control.” Iran’s foreign minister visited China last week, and Beijing has called for peace. Beijing and Washington agree that no country should be able to charge shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department said yesterday.

AI. The two countries are considering resuming bilateral dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI) safety after they made some steps toward such dialogue during the Biden administration. Global talks on AI guardrails have moved very slowly. China and the United States are the top two AI powers, and potential cooperation on the matter is sensitive given they are in a race for preeminence in various different AI domains.

“Neither side is going to be able to make major progress on the issues that divide the United States and China. Those are too hard to fix overnight. What we’re likely to see is a meeting that helps stabilize the relationship and prepares for the next time these two presidents are going to meet. So get ready. I think we’re going to see a big year for U.S.-China bilateral diplomacy, and we’ll see if it’s going to be a big year for U.S.-China bilateral progress.”

Iran’s missile capabilities. Iran still has around 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile and has restored access to thirty of its thirty-three missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz—where Iranian missiles could threaten U.S. ships—unnamed sources with knowledge of U.S. intelligence assessments told the New York Times. The intelligence reports date from early this month. Asked for comment, a White House spokesperson repeated Trump’s divergent claim that Iran’s military had been “crushed” in the conflict and the acting Pentagon press secretary said Operation Epic Fury was a “historic accomplishment.”

Hezbollah warns against talks. The group’s leader has called for the Lebanese government to abandon direct negotiations with Israel, which are scheduled to continue in Washington this week. In a letter to Hezbollah officials, he wrote that the potential disarmament of Hezbollah, a key issue in the negotiations, was an internal matter. 

Reported Saudi strikes on Iran. Saudi Arabia carried out multiple strikes on Iran in retaliation for Iranian attacks during the war, unnamed Western and Iranian officials told Reuters. The Western officials said the attacks occurred in late March. Neither Iran’s foreign ministry nor a senior Saudi official commented on the alleged strikes. 

Jump in civilian harms in Colombia. Colombia’s long-running armed conflicts between criminal groups and state forces took their heaviest civilian toll in a decade in 2025, according to a Red Cross report published yesterday. Explosive devices killed or injured 965 people, most of them civilians, while 308 people were reported disappeared. President Gustavo Petro has sought ceasefires with many of Colombia’s armed groups, with little success.

Accusations of tariff evasion… Three U.S. solar panel firms filed a complaint yesterday with the Department of Commerce that accused two other solar companies of using assembly sites in Ethiopia to evade tariffs on Chinese solar imports. U.S. solar panel imports from Ethiopia jumped from zero to $300 million between June and December last year, the complaint said. One of the accused firms denied the allegation, saying its materials came from elsewhere in Asia.  

…and ongoing tariff refunds. The U.S. government processed almost $35.5 billion in refunded tariffs and related interest payments by May 11, according to a court filing issued Tuesday. In total, up to $166 billion in tariffs were collected by the Trump administration under a law that the Supreme Court has ruled was improperly used. Tens of thousands of applications for tariff refunds are still outstanding, according to the court filing. 

Another candidate for UN leader. Antigua and Barbuda has nominated former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa for UN Secretary-General, a UN General Assembly spokesperson said yesterday. Espinosa also previously served as Ecuador’s defense minister. Her nomination brings the total number of candidates gunning for the position up to five; they include current UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi.

Report on Nigerian airstrike. Amnesty International said yesterday that a Nigerian military airstrike Sunday killed at least one hundred civilians at a market. A military spokesperson acknowledged forces were operating in the area but said there was “no verifiable evidence” of civilian casualties as reported in the media. It is the second time in a month that Amnesty has reported civilian deaths in Nigeria of this scale from a military airstrike; Nigerian officials called the prior incident a misfire.