Trump to travel to China next month, with US trade policy in focus

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a highly anticipated meeting between the world's two biggest economies, following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Trump's sweeping tariffs against imported goods.

A White House official confirmed the trip on Friday, just before the highest U.S. court struck down many of the tariffs Trump has used to manage sometimes-tense relations with China.

Trump is expected to visit Beijing and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a lavish, extended visit. Trump was last in China in 2017, the most recent trip by a U.S. president.

A key topic had been whether to extend a trade truce that kept both countries from further hiking tariffs. After Friday's ruling, however, it was not immediately clear whether - and under what legal authority - Trump would restore tariffs on imports from China.

TRUMP SEES TRADE IMBALANCE AS NATIONAL EMERGENCY

The administration has said the tariffs were necessary because of national emergencies related to trade imbalances and China's role in producing illicit fentanyl-related chemicals.

"That's going to be a wild one," Trump told foreign leaders visiting Washington on Thursday about the trip. "We have to put on the biggest display you've ever had in the history of China."

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing has not confirmed the trip.

The visit would be the leaders' first talks since February and their first in-person visit since an October meeting in South Korea. At that October meeting, Trump agreed to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the fentanyl trade, resuming U.S. soybean purchases and keeping rare earth minerals flowing.

While the October meeting largely sidestepped the sensitive issue of Taiwan, Xi raised U.S. arms sales to the island in February.

Washington announced its largest-ever arms sales deal with Taiwan in December, including $11.1 billion in weapons that could ostensibly be used to defend against a Chinese attack. Taiwan expects more such sales.

China views Taiwan as its own territory, a position Taipei rejects. The United States has formal diplomatic ties with China, but it maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan and is the island's most important arms supplier. The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

Xi also said during the February call that he would consider further increasing soybean purchases, according to Trump. Struggling U.S. farmers are a major political constituency for Trump, and China is the top soybean consumer.

Although Trump has justified several hawkish policy steps from Canada to Greenland and Venezuela as necessary to thwart China, he has eased policy toward Beijing in the past several months in key areas, from tariffs to advanced computer chips and drones.