Trump and Xi expected to meet in Shenzhen as tech executives attend APEC

An encounter between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is expected in Shenzhen on Nov. 18 and 19 during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, their third encounter this year.

The APEC CEO Summit runs Nov. 17 and 18, bringing corporate executives and government figures together to discuss regional economic cooperation, technology and investment. The Business Times said executives from U.S. tech companies in Shenzhen are likely to press for greater leniency, though observers question whether they will get it.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang resigned Thursday, Nov. 12, following reports that affairs involved a company executive and a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. Beijing called the espionage allegations slander and said the Nvidia matter is an American domestic issue.

Trump said he will not raise Huang’s affair with Xi. Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterms. Lawmakers who take a hard line on China are using the Huang scandal to push three bills that would tighten technology exports to China.

The U.S.-China trade truce expires Jan. 10. The sides said at an earlier meeting that they would resume negotiations at APEC. Xi visited Washington in September, and the leaders agreed to extend the truce deadline to Jan. 10 by two months.

China’s Customs Tariff Commission said Monday the 24% extra tariff on U.S. goods stays suspended for two more months, while the 10% duty remains. China dominates rare earths. Restrictions on exports in 2025 tied to U.S. tariffs and semiconductor controls forced the Trump administration to back down.

American rare earth firms received more than $2.5 billion from U.S. federal loans and equity. The recipients include MP Materials, which runs the only producing U.S. rare earth mine, and USA Rare Earth, which is building a mine-to-magnet chain in Texas and Oklahoma. Paul Triolo said China would probably restrict rare earths and magnets in response to tighter chip curbs, putting the relationship on the brink.

The United States bans advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips such as Nvidia’s Blackwell from reaching China. The Trump administration permitted sales of Nvidia’s H200 chip to China in January, a move Congress is scrutinizing after the midterms. About 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips sat in Hong Kong awaiting mainland shipment because China withheld import permission. Huang led Washington’s push to let U.S. companies sell AI hardware to China, and many Chinese firms favor the open AI models he promotes.

Jeff Moon said, “if Chinese espionage stole or attempted to steal Nvidia technology, the US has to act.” China’s foreign ministry said the spying accusations were baseless speculation on Nov. 12. It called them a smear campaign. The ministry said the accusations served as an excuse for a U.S. technology blockade.

Three Republican committee chairs overseeing Foreign Affairs and China sent Jensen Huang a letter asking for a closed-door briefing on Wednesday. A Republican-led inquiry into Jensen Huang opens in Congress on Wednesday, when the APEC summit begins and Trump and Xi meet.

Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, will take part in an artificial intelligence dialogue on the sidelines and said Washington aims to “de-risk, not to decouple” with China. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation covers about 62% of global GDP and nearly half of global trade. China is hosting this summit for the third time. It met in Shanghai in 2001 and in Beijing in 2014.