Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to hold talks with United States President Donald Trump at the White House during his state visit – the first by a Chinese leader in more than a decade – as the world’s two largest economies are locked in an ongoing tussle over trade and artificial intelligence. Trump is expected to welcome Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews outside the US capital, Washington, DC, in a rare gesture for a high-stakes three-day visit by the Chinese leader. He ramped up tariffs on Chinese goods after returning to power in 2025, and has since imposed curbs on the sale of AI chips to Beijing as the two nations compete for supremacy in the AI race.
The future of their fragile trade truce will be high on the agenda when the two leaders meet on Thursday. US trade with China fell sharply in 2025, with trade declining nearly 30 percent compared with the year before. But China’s trade with other countries has seen a sharp rise, with Beijing registering a $1.2 trillion global trade surplus last year.
So, what will be on the agenda of the talks, and who is really winning the US-China trade war? A Congressional Research Service report noted that as of July 2026, Chinese goods in the US faced a tariff rate of 36.5 percent, while US goods entering China were taxed at 31 percent. These tariff rates are averages, not product-specific.
The rate varies sharply by product. For example, Chinese copper and its products faced an effective rate of 73.6 percent in June 2026, while aluminium and its products faced 65.2 percent, iron and steel items about 50 to 58 percent and vehicles and auto parts 44.4 percent. These figures show the variety of tariff layers applicable to specific products.
China, meanwhile, maintains a 10 percent additional tariff on US imports on top of its normal tariffs and product-specific duties. For example, US crude oil faces 20 percent, LNG 25 percent, soya beans 13 percent, and US beef can face up to 77 percent. Soon after resuming office in January 2025, Trump imposed a 10 percent duty on Chinese goods over fentanyl and immigration concerns, leading to the ongoing trade war.
Beijing responded with levies on US coal, LNG, crude oil, and autos, as well as additional curbs on exports of five metals key to defence and clean energy. By April 2025, the trade war escalated, with Chinese goods attracting 145 percent tariffs while Beijing imposed a 125 percent levy on US imports, in addition to curbs on rare-earth exports. The rivals struck a tariff truce after talks in South Korea, which is due to expire on November 10.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
