US–China Strategic Tensions and Summit Maneuvering: Economics and Tariffs

How much leverage does Washington still have when one of Trump’s favorite instruments of pressure has been narrowed by the courts? 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump (R) attend talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Gimhae Air Base, located next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan on Oct. 30, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

By the time President Donald Trump lands in Beijing on May 14–15, the summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping will already carry the feel of a meeting held after the argument has started. It was delayed by the Iran war, and it now arrives in a climate shaped by tariff threats, maritime pressure, sanctions talk, and the familiar accusation from each capital that the other is acting recklessly.