Xi meeting may force Trump to pivot on semiconductor tariffs and Taiwan.
Donald Trump has very little leverage heading into two days of meetings with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing this week, experts say.
The thinking goes that Trump came into office with a plan that has since largely failed. He hoped to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, settle things down with Israel and Gaza, launch his Liberation Day tariffs, and quickly diversify US supply chains, all of which would have given him substantial leverage over China.
But none of that happened, and instead, Trump’s escalations in Iran have only handed China even more leverage heading into talks, and Xi knows it.
Unwilling to appear weak when negotiating with one of America’s most critical trading partners and fiercest adversaries, Trump invited executives of some of the biggest US tech firms to tag along.
