U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 30, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a highly anticipated meeting between the world's two biggest economies, following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Trump's sweeping tariffs against imported goods.

A White House official confirmed the trip on Friday, just before the highest U.S. court struck down many of the tariffs Trump has used to manage sometimes-tense relations with China.

Trump is expected to visit Beijing and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a lavish, extended visit. Trump was last in China in 2017, the most recent trip by a U.S. president.

A key topic had been whether to extend a trade truce that kept both countries from further hiking tariffs. After Friday's ruling, however, it was not immediately clear whether — and under what legal authority — Trump would restore tariffs on imports from China.

Trump sees trade imbalance as national emergency

The administration has said the tariffs were necessary because of national emergencies related to trade imbalances and China's role in producing illicit fentanyl-related chemicals.

"That's going to be a wild one," Trump told foreign leaders visiting Washington on Thursday about the trip. "We have to put on the biggest display you've ever had in the history of China."

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing has not confirmed the trip. The visit would be the leaders' first talks since February and their first in-person visit since an October meeting in South Korea. At that October meeting, Trump agreed to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earth minerals flowing.

While the October meeting largely sidestepped the sensitive issue of Taiwan, Xi raised U.S. arms sales to the island in February.

Source: Korea Times News