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President Trump is set to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week. The meeting comes amid growing tensions over trade between the U.S. and China. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram is traveling with Trump in Asia and brings us this report.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Trump's whirlwind Asia trip has included stops in Malaysia and Japan. The president next heads to Korea ahead of the APEC summit there. But really, the focus is on just one meeting - Trump's sit-down with China's Xi Jinping. It'll be the first time Trump and Xi have met in six years. Trump has said he plans to speak with Xi about a range of issues, including Russia's war in Ukraine and possibly Taiwan. But the main focus of the meeting is the escalating trade war between the two countries. Trump, ever the deal-maker, has been teasing that the meeting will be a breakthrough.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So I think we're going to end up having a fantastic deal with China. It's going to be a great trade deal. It's going to be fantastic for both countries, and it's going to be fantastic for the entire world.
SHIVARAM: But experts say they aren't expecting the meeting to move the needle on U.S.-China trade relations. Dennis Wilder is a former intelligence official who's worked for both Democratic and Republican presidents. He now teaches at Georgetown University.
DENNIS WILDER: This will be a chance to air their grievances with each other, to make some tactical shifts, to reassure markets, to reassure the world that we're not going to the precipit (ph), but we're not ready for true de-escalation yet.
SHIVARAM: Wilder says while there won't be a full decrease in tensions at the end of the meeting, he expects some major issues will be addressed, like China's recent move to restrict rare earths exports. The U.S. and many other countries rely on rare earth minerals because they're critical parts of military equipment and other technologies. The move was seen as Xi going on offense in the trade war, and it surprised Trump, who said he might cancel his meeting with Xi. But last week, Trump said the U.S. could retaliate.
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TRUMP: They will threaten us with rare earths. I don't think they're threatening us too much right now, but they could do that. But I threaten them with something I think is much more powerful, and that's tariffs.
SHIVARAM: And in the meantime, economic uncertainty for Americans has loomed. China's boycott on U.S. soybeans has decimated farmers, and overall, tariffs typically result in increased costs for consumers. The instability is negatively impacting Trump. Recent polling shows approval ratings for Trump's handling of the economy are at the lowest they've been in both of Trump's terms. But despite the president's insistence on making a deal with Xi, the outcome of the meeting might just be both countries buying more time. That's according to Ryan Hass, the director of the China Center at Brookings.
RYAN HASS: I'm not sure that either side is prepared to fully climb down from the positions that they've staked out. More so, I expect that the two leaders will get together and announce an extension of the trade truce that has carried over through the summer to limit tariff escalation.
SHIVARAM: A true trade deal will likely come at a different meeting, like if Trump visited Beijing or Xi came to Washington, says Dennis Wilder. He says this meeting in Korea isn't going to be the place.
WILDER: It's on the sidelines of a major event with lots of other countries involved. The host is the Koreans. The Chinese are not in control, and the Chinese love control.
SHIVARAM: But a Beijing meeting may come soon. Trump said he plans to visit China in early 2026. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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