France, May 14 -- Trump will be joined at meetings with Xi later this week in China by 17 chief executives, including SpaceX's Elon Musk and Apple's Tim Cook, with tariffs expected to be at the centre of discussions.

A trade truce agreed last October is still in place but high tariffs remain, along with US export controls and Chinese counter-measures over rare-earth elements and other trade issues.

The US began imposing tariffs on China in 2018, addressing what it described as unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft.

In 2025, when Trump took office for the second time, tariffs on Chinese goods - including electronics, machinery and consumer goods - escalated to 145 percent.

China responded with tariffs of up to 84 perce...