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Trump-Xi Summit on Track Even as Iran War Drags On
Meeting Had Been Postponed From March
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said preparations for President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are on track after the high-profile summit was postponed to May amid the war in Iran.
Greer on March 31 downplayed the prospect that the conflict — now in its second month — could lead to a further delay in talks between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
“Is there going to be a delay in the meeting? I haven’t heard talk about that either internally; I didn’t hear that from my Chinese counterpart,” Greer said onBloomberg Surveillance.
The White House last week announced that Trump and Xi would hold their summit in Beijing May 14-15, delaying a gathering that was originally slated to begin later this month. Trump postponed the face-to-face to remain in Washington and focus his attention on the war.
The delay unnerved financial markets with the conflict threatening to strain a U.S.-China relationship that has already navigated a complicated trade truce and other lingering issues, such as Taiwan. China is also a major importer of oil from Iran and energy prices globally have skyrocketed with the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Chinese want stability. We want stability. I actually see a positive agenda with China going forward,” Greer said. “I see stability with China over the next year.”
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U.S. officials, including Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, met with Chinese counterparts earlier this month to help lay the groundwork for the summit. Asked if there would be another such meeting ahead of the Trump-Xi sitdown, Greer cast it as unnecessary.
“I don’t think we’re going to need to do that particularly,” Greer said March 31. “When we were in Paris we reached general agreement on the types of outcomes we want for the leaders meeting. And right now, our deputies and our staff are in regular communication to try to land all those outcomes.”
READ MORE:China Starts Trade Probes Against US Before Xi-Trump Summit
Those remarks ran counter to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who on March 30
had suggested that she expected officials to meet again before the summit.
