Trump-Xi Summit: Trade, Taiwan, Iran, and AI on the Agenda
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet at the White House on September 24, amidst strained US-China relations over tariffs, technology restrictions, and security issues. The war with Iran has added another layer of complexity to their talks.
The two leaders will discuss key issues such as trade, Taiwan, Iran, and artificial intelligence (AI). China's significant economic leverage with Iran is a major point of contention, with the US wanting Beijing to use its influence to pressure Tehran. The U.S. Treasury Department stated in April that China purchases approximately 90% of Iran's oil exports, with independent Chinese refineries accounting for most of those imports.
Taiwan is another area of disagreement between Washington and Beijing, with China considering Taiwan part of its territory and pressing the US to take a harder line against what it describes as support for Taiwanese independence. The US maintains an unofficial relationship with Taiwan and provides defense articles and services to help Taiwan maintain its self-defense capability under the Taiwan Relations Act.
The AI competition is another major area of contention between Washington and Beijing, with both governments seeing AI as important to economic and national-security capabilities but disagreeing over issues such as advanced semiconductor access, technology transfers, and regulation. The US has proposed an AI safety notification mechanism that could allow the two countries to communicate about serious AI-related incidents.