U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a highly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies, a trip announced as the Supreme Court overturned Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imported goods.
A White House official confirmed the trip on Friday, just before the highest U.S. court dealt Trump a stinging defeat by striking down many of the tariffs he has used in a global trade war, including some against rival China.
Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on an extended visit to Beijing had been expected to revolve around extending a trade truce that kept both countries from further hiking tariffs.
“That’s going to be a wild one,” Trump told foreign leaders visiting Washington on Thursday about the upcoming China visit. “We have to put on the biggest display you’ve ever had in the history of China.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington declined to comment on the dates of the trip. Beijing has not confirmed the trip.
This comes as twenty-percent tariffs on China’s U.S.-bound exports were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, which the Supreme Court ruled Trump had overstepped. Those tariffs were tied to national emergencies related to fentanyl distribution and trade imbalances.
Other duties on Chinese goods, including those implemented under legislated trade authorities known as Section 301 and Section 232, remain in place.
