The U.S. president originally had a trip to China scheduled to begin at the end of this month.
President Donald Trump said during a press briefing on March 17 that the postponed meeting between him and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping will take place in “about five to six weeks.”
“They were fine with it,” Trump said of the rescheduling, which is still in progress. “I look forward to seeing President Xi. He looks forward to seeing me, I think.
“China actually has become, economically for us, very good, very good. As you know, it’s much different than it was in the past, and we have a very good working relationship with China.”
Trump originally had a trip to China scheduled to begin at the end of this month, but said earlier that he requested to postpone the trip in order to prioritize overseeing military operations in Iran.
“I have to be here, I feel. And so we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump told reporters on March 16.
Trump and Xi last met in October 2025 in South Korea for a bilateral meeting, striking a trade truce scheduled to last for one year.
The U.S. president implemented tariffs on trade partners shortly after taking office, mainly aiming to balance trade deficits, which led to negotiated trade deals that often capped tariffs at 15 percent and included major investments in U.S. industries to allow foreign countries to buy down the deficits.
Those deals have remained in place since the Supreme Court invalidated Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs, and the United States has launched several investigations into unfair trade practices that could allow similar tariffs to be imposed.
China did not reach a trade deal with the United States; instead, it reached a more piecemeal, temporary agreement during the October 2025 meeting.
The United States had imposed several tariffs on China beyond addressing the trade deficit, including for its role in the fentanyl crisis. Beijing retaliated with its own trade measures and boycotts, and tariffs on both sides exceeded 100 percent at one point.
