Trump, Xi set for state visit amid AI race and trade strains

The United States and China face unresolved questions over artificial intelligence leadership, tariff levels, and security flashpoints including Iran and Taiwan as their presidents meet this week. President Donald Trump will greet Xi Jinping on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening before an arrival ceremony and state dinner at the White House on Thursday. The two leaders last held a summit in Beijing in May, where they reached a temporary pause in tariff escalation on non-strategic goods and China agreed to buy additional U.S. soybeans and Boeing aircraft.

Talks are expected to cover possible further tariff reductions, controls on rare-earth exports, fentanyl precursor chemicals, and the case of American citizen Gulshan Abbas, who has been held in China for eight years. AI safety definitions and an emergency communication channel for cyber incidents will also be discussed, though neither side has signaled willingness to slow development of advanced models. Tech executives including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, and Mark Zuckerberg are scheduled to attend the state dinner.

Xi departed Beijing on Wednesday accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, senior aide Cai Qi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The visit marks Xi’s first state visit to Washington in more than a decade. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged both governments to create a dialogue mechanism on AI comparable to Cold War-era U.S.-Soviet channels. Trump has stated that the United States leads China in AI and intends to maintain that advantage.