So here's the setup: President Donald Trump is packing his bags for Beijing. He's scheduled to sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping from March 31 to April 2 for what are being billed as high-stakes talks. And he's doing it just after the U.S. Supreme Court handed him a significant setback, striking down a central piece of his trade strategy.

Think of it as walking into a negotiation after your main bargaining chip just got publicly invalidated.

The Supreme Court Just Changed the Game

The White House confirmed the trip right around the time the Supreme Court was ruling. The court decided on Friday that Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act when he imposed those 20% tariffs on Chinese exports. That's a big deal—it was a core part of his approach.

Now, before anyone thinks the whole tariff wall came tumbling down, it didn't. Other levies on Chinese goods—the ones enacted under different legal authorities like Section 301 and Section 232—are still very much intact. So the pressure is still on, just from a slightly different angle. In response, Trump said at a press conference that he plans to introduce a new 10% global tariff, but that's a separate proposal for a 150-day period.

What's Actually on the Table in Beijing?

The main goal for these talks is pretty straightforward: try to extend the trade truce that both sides agreed to back in October. That agreement paused further tariff escalation, which is the diplomatic way of saying "we stopped making things worse for a bit."

In recent months, there's been some give and take. Washington eased some duties on Chinese goods. In return, Beijing took steps like trying to curb illicit fentanyl flows and easing up on export restrictions for critical minerals. It's the classic trade negotiation dance.

Beyond Tariffs: The Taiwan Question and Soybeans

But tariffs are only part of the story. The real tension often lies elsewhere. Take Taiwan, for instance. China considers the island its territory, and Xi has already raised concerns with Trump about U.S. weapons sales there. That's a geopolitical third rail that isn't going away.

Then there's the bread-and-butter stuff: agricultural trade. China has signaled it might buy more U.S. soybeans, which is a huge deal for American farmers. It's the kind of concrete, headline-friendly concession that often comes out of these meetings.

This will be Trump's first trip to China since 2017, and it comes as his broader second-term tariff agenda has sparked friction well beyond Beijing.

Perhaps as an olive branch ahead of the summit, the U.S. administration has reportedly hit pause on several planned technology security measures. That includes restrictions targeting major Chinese telecom firms like China Telecom (CHA), China Unicom (CHU), and China Mobile (CHL), as well as router maker TP-Link. Even a proposed ban on Chinese electric trucks and buses in the U.S. is on hold for now.

So Trump heads to China with one of his key tools just blunted by the Supreme Court, but with other pressures still in place and a menu of complex issues—from Taiwan to tech to soybeans—waiting for him. It should be an interesting few days.