Trump and Xi to discuss trade, technology and Taiwan at September 24 summit

September 22, 2026 at 09:58 PM3 min

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Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are set to meet in the United States on September 24 for a summit expected to focus on trade, technology and Taiwan. The technology agenda has gained urgency from rapid advances in artificial intelligence. The meeting follows a May 2026 encounter and comes as a one-year trade pact agreed at Busan nears renewal.

Key Facts

The Trump-Xi summit is scheduled to begin in the United States on September 24, 2026.
The summit agenda is expected to center on trade, technology and Taiwan, the same three issues discussed at the May 2026 meeting.
A one-year trade pact agreed at Busan, South Korea, nearly a year ago is up for renewal, with both sides likely to seek continuation of the current arrangement.
The United States agreed under the Busan pact to lift some export controls on high-end technology and reduce three-figure tariffs on Chinese goods, while China agreed not to restrict the flow of critical minerals and rare earths to U.S. users.
Taiwan's January 2028 presidential election is likely to be a more crucial moment for the island's future than the September summit.

Trade Agenda

The most urgent issue at the summit will be trade, with the one-year pact agreed at Busan in South Korea now up for renewal. Both sides are likely to want a continuation of the current arrangement, and while there may be some tweaking on the side, the new deal will probably be similar to the old one. Each side has proposed in previous meetings that there should be a new instrument, a Board of Trade, that will assess non-sensitive China-U.S. business interests. Details about the institution remain vague, and some announcements are likely during the summit, but business leaders will want to know how comprehensive and lasting the arrangements for the board will be. There is still less information on a proposed Board of Investment, which remains on the drawing board.

Technology and AI

The technology element has been given added urgency by the sudden and rapid shift in developments in artificial intelligence. The Chinese side has proposed bringing major Chinese CEOs to the summit to match the likes of Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla's Elon Musk, both of whom accompanied Trump on the Beijing trip. The choice of business leaders is likely to turn on which aspects of trade China thinks are likely to develop most effectively in the short term.

Taiwan Stance

Taiwan is a much harder issue to solve, but it is unlikely that much that is discussed on Xi's visit will determine its outcome. Trump has been less willing than his predecessor to commit the United States to defending the island should Beijing invade, instead reasserting Washington's long-held position of strategic ambiguity. Although the U.S. is currently distracted from East Asia by the Iran conflict, China still prefers to find methods short of war to bring the island under Beijing's control. The island's January 2028 presidential election is likely to be a more crucial moment for Taiwan's future, particularly if the opposition and more China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) wins the presidency, or if an isolationist candidate becomes U.S. president later that year.