Trump meets Xi: What's at stake?

Vishala Sri-Pathma (0:00)

One of them thrives on unpredictability, the other is famous for revealing very little. This week, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet again, from tariffs to technology. We'll look at what's at stake when the world's two most powerful economic rivals sit down together. The last time the two men met was in Beijing in May.

President Trump wrapped up that meeting with these words.

SPEAKER_2 (0:22)

I believe on September 24th, thereabouts, President Xi is going to be coming to the United States and we will be reciprocal, like reciprocal trade. The visit will be reciprocal. We're going to lay it on the line.

Vishala Sri-Pathma (0:36)

Well, the big day is upon us. And will Trump lay it on the line, like he said just there? Well, his Chinese counterpart is about to find out. And what will that actually just look like? That's on this episode of Business Daily. I'm Vishala Sri-Pathma, joining us is Samira Hussain, North America business correspondent in New York and Laura Bicker, senior China correspondent, joining us from Beijing. Welcome to you both. Hello.

Laura Bicker (1:09)

Lovely to be here.

Vishala Sri-Pathma (1:10)

Samira, let's start with you. What's the feeling out in the US.? This is a big moment.

It is a big moment.

Samira Hussain (1:14)

It is a big moment. It is a big moment and it's a bit sort of convoluted because there's another big thing happening right now in the United States, which is the United Nations General Assembly. And so you have a lot of world leaders that have descended here into New York. But what's really going to happen between presidents, Xi and Trump is actually going to happen in Washington. And there will be a state dinner. So that means it is rolling out the red carpet for President Xi.

And then we're really going to get that, that, that between presidents, Trump and Xi. When they meet at the White House, they're going to have discussions. And then of course, they're going to speak to the media.

Vishala Sri-Pathma (1:58)

And Laura, Xi Jinping does lots of trips abroad. He has met many world leaders in the past year. How closely is this meeting being followed in China?

Laura Bicker (2:08)

Well, it's been closely followed by Chinese state media. But from China's perspective, this is now a President Xi who has weathered Donald Trump's tariffs in the last year. It is a China that is managing to catch up to the United States when it comes to the likes of technology, despite the fact China says it has no access to these high-end computer chips that come from the United States. And then of course, this is a President Xi that over the last year has had world leaders knocking at his door. They've come here to do business.

So, when it comes to President Xi, he will be going to Washington feeling he's got a very strong hand to negotiate.

Vishala Sri-Pathma (2:46)

Lots to get into for this week's agenda. But before we get into that, let's take a quick trip back in time because the US and China, they go way back. The sometimes rocky and sometimes lucrative relationship between the two countries has defined much of the last couple of decades in terms of the global economy.

On Monday's edition of Business Daily, Will Bain spoke to former State Department economist Chad Bowen about the historic relationship between Mao and Nixon. Well, we're going to fast forward a little bit to 2016 on this episode. Donald Trump wins the White House. Months later, he and Xi Jinping come face to face for the first time at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Back then, relations were bumpy, as Laura suggested. Today, it could be described as rather bruising at times. Trade wars, tariffs, technology battles and geopolitical rivalry have turned this relationship into one of the defining contests of our time. And few moments captured that shift better than what Trump called Liberation Day back in April 2025

SPEAKER_2 (3:50)

China, 67%. That's tariffs charged to the USA, including currency manipulation and trade barriers.

Vishala Sri-Pathma (3:59)

President Trump claiming that China was hitting the US with tariffs of 67%.

And he responded by adding tariffs of 34% to China. Well, the Chinese hit back within days. And here's a spokesperson from their foreign ministry.

SPEAKER_5 (4:16)

China does not want a trade war, but we are not afraid of one. If the United States insists on waging a tariff war or a trade war, China will fight to the end.

Vishala Sri-Pathma (4:28)

Since then, tariffs have gone up as high as 145% and back down again, depending on which product and when. It's really difficult to keep up. But generally, how have relations been between the two countries? Well, Samira, we touched a bit there about how President Trump might feel on a personal level. Do you think that's a big part of this relationship between the two economies?