September 17, 2026
What Will the Latest Trump-Xi Summit Bring? Four Experts Set the Stakes.
This article was originally published in Kharon's The Brief.
Ahead of the May summit, there were high hopes for Boeing and soybean sales, agreements on AI and trade, and speculation about large Chinese investments in the United States. Apart from soybean sales, none of it has materialized. The Board of Investment has not moved a single inch.
Both leaders want a big show, and their teams are going through the motions of staging one.
For Beijing to deliver, the political logic has to work from its perspective. Often it gets more from dangling deals, floating trial balloons, and probing for softness that might yield concessions. It knows that stringing American negotiators along can tie Washington in knots and stall actions like tariffs, export controls, and defense packages to Taiwan.
More from CNAS
-
What Would a Democrat Midterm Win Mean for U.S. Foreign Policy?
Video
The midterms will shape the direction of US foreign policy in the next two years with pressures from competition with China, to Israel and the war with Iran. Liza Tobin [adjun...
By Liza Tobin
-
Getting U.S. Trade Deals To Spur Economic Security Co-Operation
Commentary
One lesson is that simply writing a binding promise to align with US economic security measures into a trade deal provides no guarantee of on-the-ground policy alignment....
By Geoffrey Gertz
-
Is This How a Europe-China Trade War Starts? With Tobias Gehrke
Podcast
Tobias Gehrke joins Emily and Geoff to debrief on the latest news on EU-China trade tensions. They discuss the EU-China deal on hybrid vehicles, the potential for further esca...
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
-
Ziemba: No Immediate U.S. Role in Saudi-Houthi Fighting
Video
Aramco's headquarters in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia was hit by a Houthi missile attack. Authorities said the strike on Dhahran caused a limited fire and no injuries as f...
By Rachel Ziemba
