Trump expects Xi and Putin talks at APEC as China extends its US tariff pause

9 Nov 2026, 11:00

MoneyTurkey editors

US President Donald Trump says he expects a three-way meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at next week’s APEC summit in Shenzhen.

MoneyTurkey Politics Desk | 9 November 2026

Key points

China extended the suspension of its additional 24% tariff on US imports and special port fees on US-linked ships for two months, keeping the 10% rate in place.
Trump said the talks would cover ending the war in Iran and denuclearisation; The Wall Street Journal has reported that Putin pitched using the meeting to discuss ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
China’s Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin say they are coordinating, but no three-way meeting has been formally confirmed.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on 8 November that he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC leaders’ summit in Shenzhen on 18-19 November. The three leaders have met separately but have never held formal talks together, Al Jazeera noted. China separately announced it will extend the suspension of its additional 24% tariff on US imports and special port fees on US-linked ships for two months.

What happened

Trump said in West Palm Beach, before flying back to Washington, that one of the meetings at the summit would be with Putin and Xi. He said the leaders would discuss denuclearisation and “a lot of things,” including efforts to end the war in Iran. In a separate CBS 60 Minutes interview, Trump said he believes the United States is “very close to making a deal” to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which would result in a “little bit different shape Ukraine,” without giving specifics.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on 5 November that China is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 4 November that work is under way to coordinate such a meeting and that Moscow hopes it will be finalised in the coming days.

On 9 November, China’s Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced it will extend the suspension of the additional 24% tariff on US imports for two months while keeping the 10% additional tariff rate in place. The Ministry of Transport said it will continue to suspend special port fees on US-linked ships and its investigation into the impact on the security and development interests of the shipping and shipbuilding industries until 10 January 2027.

The State Council said the extensions are intended to implement the outcomes and consensus reached at the Washington meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States. It noted that the US side has repeatedly stated its intention to replace the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which have been ruled invalid, with Section 301 tariffs.

What is at stake for markets

The tariff suspension covers imports originating in the US and follows a $60 billion package of reciprocal tariff cuts proposed after the September Washington summit, including roughly $17 billion worth of US farm goods that China imported in 2024, according to Anadolu; that plan has not been finalised. Beijing said it will keep watching Washington’s next moves and adjust its countermeasures accordingly. The port-fee suspension affects US-linked ships and runs until January 2027.

Analyst Alexander Bratersky told Al Jazeera that a meeting by itself would be a success for Moscow and that Putin would be able to sell it at home. He said the meeting could lead to another during the G20 summit in Miami in December, and that if nothing is produced before Christmas it would be just a photo op.

Professor Inderjeet Parmar told Al Jazeera that a three-way meeting would allow Trump to present himself as the indispensable deal-maker, talking up potential deals on Ukraine, trade, energy or arms control. He said any image of Trump sitting with Xi and Putin could be spun as evidence that American power still commands the table, even if the substance is limited or largely symbolic.

Why it matters

Beijing looks less keen than Moscow. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told broadcaster ARD that Xi told him the three presidents would probably meet in Shenzhen, but not to discuss Ukraine, which Xi called a European conflict. China’s Foreign Ministry also said last month that joining trilateral nuclear disarmament talks would be “neither fair, reasonable nor realistic” at this stage.

Bratersky said the meeting would allow Moscow to talk big while putting Ukraine on the sidelines and would make Putin first among equals, giving him a photo opportunity to show the world that he will be among those deciding the future of Europe’s security architecture after the war in Ukraine.

Bratersky said that if the meeting produced results, it would reflect China’s influence on Russia. He said Trump remains in charge of foreign policy but will have less leverage if Democrats, who won control of both chambers of Congress in this week’s midterm elections, start sending money to Kyiv.

Parmar said the domestic audience and Trump’s eroding MAGA base matter at least as much as the foreign policy outcome. He said the meeting would let Trump claim he is dealing with the other two great powers on his own terms after the midterms created a domestic political need for a foreign policy win.

What to watch

Whether Beijing and Moscow formally confirm a three-way meeting at the 18-19 November summit
Any statement on tariff or port-fee extensions beyond the current two-month window
Follow-up talks at the G20 summit in Miami in December

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