Trump welcomes Xi with Big Tech dinner; AI, Iran, trade on agenda — SkimNews
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- Trump welcomed Xi Jinping with a Wednesday greeting at Joint Base Andrews and a Thursday arrival ceremony featuring 479 military personnel and a multi-aircraft flyover, capping the day with a state dinner attended by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Jensen Huang.
- AI sits at the top of the agenda: Trump posted on Truth Social that he wants to "leave it exactly where it is" with the DOJ as "our guardrail," while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said both sides are discussing ways to warn each other about AI incidents posing national-security risks.
- China's government dismissed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's essay "We Must Pace the Frontier" — which calls for slowing AI development — as an unfair attempt to hold back Chinese competition, even as Beijing funnels hundreds of billions in state funds into an AI push targeting 90% penetration of key industrial sectors by 2030.
- Iran is on the table as the U.S. runs a months-long naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz that has cut off an estimated 12% of China's oil imports; analysts say Trump may ask Xi to help broker peace with Tehran.
- Treasury Secretary Bessent announced Wednesday that the two countries agreed to extend their trade truce until January — an announcement Beijing has not officially confirmed — with current U.S. tariffs on China averaging more than 36% and China's on U.S. goods hovering around 30%.
- The Busan agreement saw China suspend rare-earth export controls and commit to buying American agricultural goods after tariffs between the two countries had previously exceeded 100% in 2025.
Why it matters: Bessent's announced trade truce extension to January remains unconfirmed by Beijing, and tariffs still hover near 36% on Chinese goods and 30% on U.S. goods. China publicly branded US AI safety calls 'unfair suppression,' showing the summit's ceremonial goodwill won't resolve the substantive disputes over AI guardrails, rare earths, or the Iran blockade that puts 12% of Chinese oil imports at risk.
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