Trump-Xi Summit Addresses Trade, Taiwan and Iran Without Major Breakthrough
Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met at the White House on September 24 to discuss trade, AI, Taiwan and the Iran conflict.
ASIA,POLITICS
Global N Press
9/24/20261 min read
WASHINGTON, September 24, 2026 — Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump met at the White House on September 24 for their second face-to-face meeting of 2026, discussing trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the conflict involving Iran. Xi said the world’s two largest economies should act as responsible major powers and maintain stable relations and healthy competition, while Trump highlighted the importance of economic ties and direct communication between the two leaders. Taiwan remained a central point of strategic disagreement. China said Xi urged Washington to oppose “Taiwan independence” and maintain what Beijing considers the correct position on the issue, while the White House did not provide a detailed account of the discussion.
Iran was also raised, with U.S. Ambassador to China Edgard Kagan later saying Trump warned Xi that Chinese support for Iran was unacceptable and received assurances that China would not provide such support. The two sides also reached an understanding on a package involving reciprocal tariff adjustments worth about $60 billion in goods, including Chinese tariff reductions on a range of U.S. agricultural products. However, major differences remained over Taiwan, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, critical minerals and the longer-term structure of bilateral trade. The summit therefore produced agreements intended to manage immediate tensions but did not resolve the broader strategic disputes between the two countries.
