Trump heads to Beijing with the Iran war casting a shadow over the Xi summit

US President Donald Trump is traveling to China this week. The official visit, scheduled from May 13 to 15, will be the first time a US president has gone to China in nearly a decade. On the agenda will be bilateral meetings, a tour of the Temple of Heaven, a state dinner, and tea between the two leaders before departure. 

Senior US officials say trade will dominate discussions, with talks expected to center on Chinese purchases of American agricultural goods, energy products, and aerospace technologies, including Boeing aircraft. The two sides are also expected to discuss establishing a US-China board of trade to consider how the countries can exchange goods unrelated to national security.

The trade discussions have interested parties on the edge of their seats as Trump unveiled sweeping import taxes on countries around the world early last year. That led to a trade war between the US and China, which saw tariffs reach 100% on some goods. While those tariffs were paused following Trump and Xi's last meeting in South Korea last October, the possibility of the conflict reemerging looms large.

Regarding trade, President Trump will not be going alone, with executives from some of America's biggest companies, including Boeing, Citigroup, and Qualcomm, expected to travel with Trump, potentially to make deals with Chinese firms. Beijing, for its part, appears to be heading into the meeting from a position of relative strength, with China's export figures hitting record levels after it developed new trading partners as ties with the US weakened.

While trade negotiations will be a major focus, discussions surrounding the Iran war are inevitable. Currently, President Trump is looking for a deal to end the war with Iran, but that does not seem to be happening any time soon, with Trump taking to Truth Social on Sunday night to say Iran's proposal was "TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!" 

Back in March, China had publicly declared its support for Iran, saying Tehran had the right to defend itself against US-Israeli strikes. That being said, Trump is prepared to push Xi, whose country relies on Iran for low-cost oil, to help broker an agreement ending the fighting, according to US officials. 

A senior US official, speaking to i24NEWS Senior Correspondent Mike Wagenheim, said Trump has raised Iran with Xi "multiple times," including concerns about "the revenue that China provides for both those regimes," as well as dual-use goods, components, parts, and potential weapons exports. "I expect that conversation to continue," the official said, pointing to recent US sanctions on Chinese entities for providing satellite imagery enabling Iranian military strikes against US forces in the Middle East.

Asked why Trump would travel while the conflict remains ongoing, the official said, "I don't think he has the luxury to focus on just one issue for weeks and weeks." He said he expected the president to "apply pressure" and pointed to recent Treasury and State Department actions on the sanctions front.

Taiwan is also expected to come up, though the US has signaled Trump is not eager to let it dominate trade negotiations. A Taiwanese official told the New York Times that reduced US support would be "the biggest nightmare," though they insisted it was unlikely. Other Asian nations, which are paying attention to the summit, are worried about the possibility of President Trump trading long-term security commitments for short-term economic gains with Beijing. Japan hosts around 53,000 US military personnel, and South Korea hosts 24,000. Vietnam has warned that even a conciliatory gesture toward Xi could give Beijing greater leeway to press smaller nations harder across the region.