Trump: Will meet with Xi at APEC

Trump: Will meet with Xi at APEC

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea on October 30-November 1, marking the first face-to-face encounter since Trump returned to the White House in January. This meeting comes amidst ongoing efforts to stabilize relations between the two superpowers, which have been locked in a trade standoff.

The leaders' call on Friday morning is expected to address a potential agreement to keep the video app TikTok online in the US and ease tensions between the two nations. The deal would involve transferring TikTok's US assets to US owners from ByteDance, with the app still utilizing ByteDance's algorithm . This arrangement has raised concerns among lawmakers who worry about potential national security threats from Beijing.

The meeting also aims to tackle other key issues, including competition in advanced technologies, semiconductor exports, and the export of fentanyl-related chemicals. The US is demanding that China increase purchases of US soybeans and Boeing airplanes, while China has accused Washington of distorting the fentanyl issue .

The upcoming APEC summit is seen as a crucial opportunity for Trump and Xi to address these issues and potentially reach a broader trade agreement. The leaders' efforts to stabilize relations come as both economies show signs of slowing down .

The meeting is expected to be a significant step forward in the ongoing trade negotiations between the US and China. The two nations have been locked in a tit-for-tat tariff war since 2018, with tariff rates rising to triple-digit percentages in April . Despite the tariffs, China remains the US' third-largest trading partner and the source of its largest bilateral trade deficit in goods .

The meeting also comes amidst growing regional concerns over Taiwan and the South China Sea, which have struggled to gain as much attention in Washington as the Russia-Ukraine and Gaza conflicts. Heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-US relations .

In an early sign of goodwill, China permitted the departure of Wells Fargo banker Chenyue Mao, who had been prevented from returning to the US for several months .