BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump has kept up an uneasy silence about Taiwan following his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week, despite the U.S.’ announcement in December of a record $11 billion in arms sales to the island against Beijing’s wishes.

Trump had said the Taiwan arms sales would be on the agenda for his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping which ended on Friday.

But after the two leaders’ first day of meetings on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News the topic “did not feature primarily in today’s discussion.”

The initial White House readout also did not mention Taiwan – home to manufacturers of some of the world’s most advanced semiconductors – although Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC he expected Trump would say more on Taiwan in coming days.

The silence persisted — more than 24 hours after China published its official readout with a stark warning from Xi that mishandling Taiwan would put the U.S.-China relationship in “great jeopardy.”

“This is a pretty direct and strong comment by President Xi,” Wendy Cutler, former acting deputy U.S. trade representative, said Friday on CNBC’s “The China Connection.”

“The way I interpret it too is that he really tied economic stability to developments with respect to Taiwan,” she said.

Beijing’s readout of the closing Trump-Xi meeting Friday morning emphasized the benefits of cooperation and did not mention Taiwan.

Trump said that China and Taiwan “ought to both cool it“.

In an interview with Fox News that aired Friday afternoon, Trump insisted that long-standing U.S. policy on Taiwan remains unchanged after his two days of meetings with Xi.

The people of Taiwan should feel “neutral” about his visit, Trump said.

But he also appeared to express some opposition to the prospect of the U.S. leaping to Taiwan’s defense if it is attacked, while framing Taipei’s decision to pursue independence from China as the deciding factor.

“I will say this: I’m not looking to have somebody go independent, and you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war,” Trump said. “I’m not looking for that. I want them to cool down, I want China to cool down.”

He added that he has yet to approve another potential large sale of weapons to Taiwan: “I may do it, I may not do it.”

“We’re not looking to have somebody say ‘Let’s go independent because the United States is backing us,'” Trump said.

“Taiwan would be very smart to cool it a little bit. China would be very smart to cool it a little bit. They ought to both cool it,” he said.

Earlier, Trump said he refused to directly answer Xi when asked if the U.S. would defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack.

Trump also said Taiwan was not part of the discussion when he met with Xi in South Korea last fall.

Trump’s decision not to answer is in line with the U.S.′ long-standing “One China” policy, which leaves the status of Taiwan, an island that Beijing claims as its own, undefined.

The approach of “strategic ambiguity” leaves open whether Washington would come to Taipei’s aid in the event of a Chinese attack.

As for arms sales, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act adds that the U.S. “will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services” as may be necessary to “enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.”

Taiwan, meanwhile, said comments by Trump and Rubio signal that U.S. policy toward the island remains unchanged.

“It is a clear fact that [Taiwanese] President Lai Ching-te has consistently advocated for continuing to contribute to regional peace and stability and remaining committed to maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Taiwan’s presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement on Saturday.

“China’s escalating military threat is the sole destabilizing factor within the Indo-Pacific region, including the Taiwan Strait,” Kuo added.

“If you look at the readouts of all Trump-Xi meetings before this [week], just the last several that have occurred since maybe April of last year, you see the U.S. readouts have a much smaller portion focused on Taiwan,” Rush Doshi, director of the China strategy initiative, Council on Foreign Relations, said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“There’s really no sign that there’s been a significant change in [the U.S.] Taiwan policy, at least not yet from the summit,” Doshi said.

Taiwan is a democratically self-ruled island that Beijing claims is part of its territory. Since 1979, the U.S. has recognized Beijing and not Taipei, and acknowledges the Chinese position that there is one China and Taiwan is part of China. The U.S. maintains an unofficial relationship with the island.

– CNBC’s Eunice Yoon, Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninger and Azhar Sukri contributed to this story.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Michael MacGillivray sees the arrival of Chinese electric vehicles in Canada as a potential game changer.

“I think it is going to a be a huge eye-opener,” said MacGillivray, who oversees 10 dealerships in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada.

As the CEO of Century Auto Group and Sigma Auto Group, MacGillivray is working to become one of the dealers in the country who will sell imported Chinese EVs. In April, he went to the Beijing Auto Show with other dealers from Canada to establish relationships with Chinese automakers and get a feel for the cars and SUVs they could eventually export to his country.

“When I was in China, I was very impressed by the Chinese vehicles,” he said. “They have materials that are second to none. Their styling is impressive. The ride is very impressive.”

Not everyone likes the idea of Canada allowing the sale of EVs imported from China.

The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association said the decision to allow the sale of Chinese-made EVs was deeply concerning.

President Donald Trump is even more harsh, calling the move “a disaster.” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X, “Canada will live to regret the day they let the Chinese Communist Party flood North America with their EVs.”

Officially, Canada is allowing just 49,000 Chinese-made EVs to be imported for retail sales annually at a tariff rate of 6.1%, a fraction of the 100% tariff that is in place for all other vehicles China would export to Canada. 

That lower tariff for EVs has convinced Chinese automakers it’s time to set up dealerships.

“We received nearly 400 inquiries from different dealers across Canada who are very interested and excited to represent any of these Chinese brands,” said Farid Ahmad, CEO of DSMA, an auto dealership broker in suburban Toronto.

Ahmad is connecting dealers with Chinese automakers like BYD, Geely and Chery.

“I think from their perspective it gives them a foothold in the North American market,” he said.

General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai sell the most vehicles in Canada, according to S&P Global. Last year, industry sales topped 1.9 million vehicles, slightly more than all of the vehicles sold in California in 2025.

Limiting the number of China EV sales with a low tariff to just 49,000 vehicles is one way for Canadian leaders to put guardrails on allowing the Chinese to enter Canada’s auto market.

“They’re being careful in terms of how much volume is being allowed in,” said Michael Robinet, vice president of forecast strategy for S&P Global Mobility, an automotive industry consulting firm. “Anywhere between 3% to 5% of the market is sizable but, nonetheless, not something that will change the competitive dynamic significantly.”

On the street here, Canadians told CNBC they are curious and eager to have the chance to buy electric models from China.

“I think they will destroy the market in a good way,” said Canadian Patrick Hunt.

“So, definitely more chances, more options for people to choose different vehicles,” Canadian Daniel Haim said, “With what’s going on with gas prices, I think that it’s going to work out well for any Chinese manufacturer coming here, especially with electric vehicles.”

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index gave up gains to fall more than 6% Friday, retreating from a fresh record high, weighed down by heavyweight tech stocks amid a broader decline in Asia-Pacific markets.

The Kospi index closed at 7,493.18, having breached 8,000 earlier in the session. The small-cap Kosdaq fell more than 5% to end at 1,129.82.

The decline follows Kospi’s record-breaking streak, which has raised concerns over concentration risks, particularly in artificial intelligence stocks. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together make up a record 42.2% of the Kospi, according to Manulife Investment Management.

Shares of Samsung Electronics fell 8.6% after its labor union said it would proceed with its planned 18-day strike from May 21 involving more than 45,00 workers, even though the company has proposed resuming wage talks without preconditions. The union said it was willing to return to negotiations after June 7. SK Hynix shares declined 7.6%.

Other Asia markets also fell as investors tracked the second day of high-stakes talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump on Friday left Beijing after the 2-day summit, also attended by a delegation of American business leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2% to 61,409.29 and the Topix lost 0.39% to 3,863.97.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.11% to 8,630.8.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.6% as of its final hour of trading, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 1.12% to 4,859.59.

Precious metals also saw a sell-off, with spot gold prices down 1.43% at $4,583.02 per ounce, while silver prices fell over 5% to $79.07 per ounce.

Xi warned Trump on Thursday that Washington and Beijing could face “clashes and even conflicts” if the sensitive issue of Taiwan independence is mishandled.

Failure to handle the matter “properly” could place “the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” Xi was quoted as saying.

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Thursday night. Dow futures fell by 10 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.06%.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average retook 50,000 after Cisco Systems reported strong earnings. The 30-stock index popped 370.26 points, or 0.75%, to end at 50,063.46.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.77% and closed at 7,501.24, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.88% to 26,635.22. Those two indexes scored fresh all-time intraday highs and record closes.

— CNBC’s Justina Lee, Sean Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report

U.S. President Donald Trump said China has agreed to buy American oil, in a pre-recorded interview with Fox News that aired Thursday evening stateside, as the two nations push for concrete trade and business wins at their ongoing bilateral summit.

“They’ve agreed they want to buy oil from the United States, they’re going to go to Texas, we’re going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska,” Trump said in the interview that was conducted after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday.

China also agreed to help with Iran negotiations and not to supply military equipment to Tehran, Trump said, adding that the Chinese leader would like to see the Strait of Hormuz open and free of tolls.

“They have an insatiable appetite for energy, and we have unlimited energy,” Trump said, saying that the U.S. produces more oil & gas than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined: “we’re doing twice as much oil and gas, as they are.”

The U.S. produced 23.6 million barrels of oil and other liquid fuel per day in 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, while Saudi Arabia produced 11.21 million bpd and Russia 10.53 million bpd.

China is by far the largest buyer of Iranian oil, purchasing around 90% of Iran’s crude exports. The country imported around 1.4 million bpd of Iranian oil in 2025, according to data published by the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, the U.S. crude and petroleum exports to China plunged for a second consecutive year, falling 25% year on year to 237.8 million barrels last year. Crude oil exports, in particular, plummeted 95% from 2023 to about 8.4 million barrels in 2025.

China’s foreign ministry said Friday that the two leaders had reached “a series of new consensus” during the Thursday meeting, including an agreement to build “constructive, strategic stability” in the bilateral relationship for the next three years and beyond.

On the Iran war, Beijing called for a reopening of the shipping lanes as soon as possible, urging warring powers to work towards a “comprehensive and lasting ceasefire” and bring stability to the Middle East and Gulf region, according to an official statement.

China, however, stopped short of confirming its purchase of American energy.

By focusing on the sales of oil, soybeans, and beef to China, while not taking steps to limit the flows of certain high-tech goods, the U.S. appears to be “moving itself into the role of being more of a commodity supplier to China, said Rush Doshi, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, adding that it may not be in Washington’s long-term interests.

Despite signs of progress on building mechanisms to manage future relationships, the two countries are inevitably bound by an intensifying rivalry that limits how far their cooperation can go, Doshi said. Beijing’s framing of a “new positioning” for the bilateral ties also leaves little room for Washington to push back on economic and technology issues, he added.

Trump and Xi met on Friday for a tea session and working lunch to close out the two-day summit which has featured pageantry and business dealmaking. Beijing also made a clear warning that the Taiwan issue would be a determining factor that could push the bilateral ties into a tailspin.

“The first day of meetings went as well as they could go … but what we didn’t see were actual deliverables,” said Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at Asia Society Policy Institute, who expects the leaders to continue hashing out final deliverables for the second day.

“Each side has an interest in stability right now, [but] this doesn’t mean we’re going to become best friends,” Cutler added, as both sides used the opportunity to gain more time to de-risk in critical sectors, such as rare earths and advanced technology.

After a private discussion, which lasted about 10 minutes, the two leaders walked through the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a walled government compound where top officials from the ruling Communist Party live and work.

The two sides made “fantastic trade deals,” Trump said.

President Donald Trump told Fox News that China has agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets, according to a clip that aired Thursday, more than the 150 aircraft Boeing had expected.

“One thing he agreed to today, he’s going to order 200 jets. That’s a big thing. Boeings,” Trump told Fox News, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Boeing wanted 150, got 200.”

Analysts had expected a large Boeing aircraft order to come out of Trump’s visit to China, with Jefferies estimating the order could reach 500 aircraft. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and other top executives from U.S. companies joined Trump on the trip.

The manufacturer hasn’t won a major order from China in almost a decade, but the country has been buying from Boeing’s main rival, Airbus.

Trump didn’t specify which aircraft China could purchase from Boeing, though analysts had expected a potential order to include hundreds of Boeing’s bestselling 737 Max planes.

Boeing and the White House didn’t immediately comment. Boeing shares closed 4.73% lower Thursday and were up 0.29% after hours.

Ortberg said on a company earnings call last month that the U.S.-China summit could be a “meaningful opportunity for us” that could include an aircraft order.

“I’m not going to give you the number of airplanes, but it’s a big number,” he said.

Hello, this is Dylan writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

Wall Street was riding high as the first day of the U.S.-China summit raised hopes for a positive relationship reset and agreements from both sides.

Markets will be closely watching the second and final day of talks, to gauge how the developments at the summit ripple through trade, tech and energy.

U.S. stocks powered higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 posting its first close above 7,500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 370 points to recapture the 50,000 level.

The performance was fueled by optimism around President Donald Trump’s China visit, as well as strong earnings from Cisco Systems. 

Day one of the high-stakes summit in Beijing saw Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump agreeing to develop a “constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.” 

The two sides also discussed global conflicts, with Trump and Xi aligning on keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to restore energy flows through the critical waterway, according to a White House official.

Xi also met with American CEOs traveling with Trump, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook, and told them that China will “open wider” to foreign businesses.

In regard to commercial deals struck so far, Trump told Fox News that China will order 200 Boeing jets in a major win for the U.S. planemaker.

However, there was also some tough talk at the summit, with Xi warning Washington that mishandling Taiwan would put the U.S.-China relationship in “great jeopardy.” Beijing considers Taiwan, a democratically self-ruled island, part of its territory, while the island’s ruling party rejects that claim.

The summit is set to end today, and Trump has reportedly invited ⁠Xi ​Jinping to ​the White House ​for ​a visit on ‌Sept. ⁠24.

The tech world has also been exciting markets this week, with shares of AI chipmaker Cerebras skyrocketing 68% in their Nasdaq debut, lifting the company’s market cap to $95 billion and highlighting the ongoing hunger for high-growth AI names. 

In other headlines, SpaceX’s IPO prospectus could drop as soon as next week in what’s expected to be a record share sale, sources told CNBC. 

— Dylan Butts  

Chinese parts are already in U.S. cars as lawmakers warn Trump against China auto deal

As President Donald Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, lawmakers in both parties are warning the White House not to use the U.S. auto market as a bargaining chip in any deal with Beijing.

The warning stems in part from Trump’s January suggestion that he could welcome Chinese automakers if they built vehicles in the U.S. with American workers — remarks that were later walked back but still rattled auto-state lawmakers, unions and industry groups. 

“While the Administration is always seeking more investment into America’s industrial resurgence, any notion that we would ever compromise our national security is baseless and false,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in an email.

— Luke Fountain

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that U.S. President Donald Trump “asked me to come” to the China summit in Beijing, when asked by reporters about his trip.

Huang was a later addition to the high-stakes trip on Tuesday, after his name was noticably absent from a list of executives making the trip, shared by a White House official on Monday.

“This is an incredible opportunity for me to represent the United States of course, and to come support President Trump in one of the most important summits in human history,” Huang told reporters on the sidelines of the event on Thursday.

“The two presidents, President Xi and President Trump have such a wonderful relationship, this is an incredible opportunity for us to rely on the relationships to build a much, much better partnership,” he added.

After seeing the media coverage of Huang’s absence from the delegation, Trump called the Nvidia executive and asked him to join, a source familiar with the situation told CNBC on Wednesday. Huang flew to Alaska to board Air Force One, the source said.

In a social media post, Trump confirmed Huang was on board Air Force One and denied that the Nvidia boss had not been invited, as reported by media outlets including CNBC. 

Trade is top of the agenda in Beijing, with Trump commenting that opening up China for U.S. businesses would be his “first request” to Xi.

“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!” Trump said, referring to the wider delegation of U.S. business representatives.

The delegation includes Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, among others.

“Today’s morning ceremony was very uplifting. President Xi was very inspiring, very welcoming, and President Trump was very inspiring and very welcoming,” Huang said.

Singapore Airlines-backed Air India will substantially cut international flights during the peak June to August travel period, as the Iran war-led airspace restrictions and record-high jet fuel prices weigh on the carrier’s operational viability.

The Airline is cutting nearly 140 flights per week, which roughly translates to 27% of its total international flights, according to aviation sector experts.

“These changes are aimed at improving network stability and reducing last-minute inconvenience to passengers,” Air India said in a statement on Wednesday. Air India, co-owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, will fly fewer flights to North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

The company is India’ second-largest airline, with 3.6 million seats and a 14% share of the market, according to aviation industry data provider OAG.

Indian carriers have been among the worst affected by the conflict in the Middle East, experts said, as they face closure of airspace over Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. The country was already facing airspace usage curbs in Pakistan, as well as China, highlighted Sanjay Lazar, aviation expert and chief executive at Avialaz Consultants.

“Increased flying hours and added crew costs plus extra fuel used for the trip,” have made the sector totally unviable now, Lazar said, adding that jet fuel in India is up to 40% more expensive than in global hubs, due to local taxes.

Last month, the Federation of Indian Airlines had warned that carriers in the country were “under extreme stress and on the verge of closing down or stopping operations,” as per local media reports.

To offset the impact of falling currency and rising jet fuel costs, Indian carriers will need to raise prices “somewhere in the zone of 15%,” said Ansuman Deb, research analyst at ICICI Securities, told CNBC’s “Inside India.“

On Thursday, the Indian rupee, which has been among the worst-performing currencies in Asia so far this year, fell to an all-time low of 95.95 per dollar, LSEG data showed.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had appeal to the country’s citizens to avoid international travel, as the country’s swelling import bill, pressures the rupee.

Hello, this is Dylan Butts writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

President Donald Trump has landed in Beijing, accompanied by a high-profile group of American CEOs, setting the stage for crucial meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid escalating geopolitical and economic tensions. 

Markets across Asia-Pacific are watching closely for any breakthroughs on trade, technology, and regional security.

Enjoy!

President Trump was received on the tarmac in China by a brass band and flag-wavers, who performed as he descended the steps of Air Force One.

The President is being accompanied on the trip by a group of executives from some of America’s most valuable companies, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. 

Trump and Xi are expected to cover tariffs, rare earths, artificial intelligence, the Iran war and Taiwan. Experts anticipate that they may announce large Chinese orders for American planes and soybeans when the meetings conclude. 

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday in the leadup to the meeting. In the U.S., futures were little changed. 

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose to a new all-time high as traders’ enthusiasm for the technology trade overshadowed another hotter-than-expected inflation report. 

U.S. wholesale inflation data delivered a fresh jolt on Wednesday, with prices surging 6% year-over-year in April, the sharpest annual gain since 2022. The hotter-than-expected reading adds pressure on Federal Reserve leadership and complicates the economic backdrop as Trump engages in high-level diplomacy.

In a key development for U.S. monetary policy, Kevin Warsh has secured Senate confirmation as the next chair of the Fed. His leadership will be immediately tested by sticky inflation and potential rate implications from global energy shocks.

Meanwhile, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has continued to hurt global oil flows, with OPEC reporting a 30% since the start of the Iran war in late February. It also warned of significant risks to demand growth this year.

— Dylan Butts 

Japan’s global defense business may be on the cusp of a big breakout

Japan easing decades-old restrictions on arms exports opens a big opportunity for the country’s defense industry in a world increasingly hungry for weapons.

The global conditions seem favorable. On April 27, SIPRI reported that global military spending hit a record of $2.89 trillion in 2025, the 11th straight year of increase.

Countries are “desperate” to acquire weapons such as air defense missiles, artillery shells and armored vehicles, areas where Japan Inc. might expand its market share in the international defense economy, Hirohito Ogi, senior research fellow at the Tokyo-based Institute of Geoeconomics, told CNBC in an interview.

— Lim Hui Jie

Hello, this is Priyanka Salve, writing to you from Singapore.

Welcome to the latest edition of “Inside India“ — your one-stop destination for stories and developments from the world’s fastest-growing large economy.

For more than two decades, consecutive U.S. administrations have seen India as a counterbalance to China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. But the current U.S administration’s stances seem to favour Beijing while punishing India. This week, I unpack how the U.S.-China summit could impact New Delhi’s equation with Washington.

Read on!

Any thoughts on today’s newsletter? Share them with the team.

India, whose significance to the U.S. foreign policy has been shaped by frictions between Washington and Beijing, will be keeping a close eye on the meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

When the summit between the world’s top two economies begins later in the day, India will be hoping that Trump’s softening stance toward China does not lead to a bargain that diminishes New Delhi’s role in the Indo-Pacific, experts said.

If Trump prioritizes a bilateral grand bargain with Beijing, India will have “reasonable concerns that the United States will treat China as the central negotiating partner in Asia rather than as the central strategic challenge,” Ronak D. Desai, visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, told CNBC.

Therefore, “India will need to make its strategic value harder to overlook,” Desai said, adding this would mean the U.S.-India relationship must lead to more tangible outcomes in sectors like defense, maritime security, critical minerals, energy, and manufacturing.

Trump and Xi last met in Busan, South Korea, in November, where the U.S. president called Xi “a very tough negotiator,” and said that the two sides had “always had a very good relationship.” Meanwhile, Xi urges Beijing and Washington to be “partners and friends.” It was during this meeting that Trump also referred to China and the U.S. as G2.

“He [Trump] favors strong-armed leaders,” Nirupama Rao, former Indian ambassador to the U.S., China, and Sri Lanka, told CNBC’s “Inside India” on Monday, hinting at Trump’s conciliatory stance toward Xi in the recent past.

For more than two decades, consecutive U.S. administrations have deepened ties with India as a measure to counterbalance China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. India, being the world’s largest democracy, as opposed to China’s one-party government, is seen as a natural partner to the U.S., experts said.

“It was Trump who, in his first term, had challenged America’s China policy and even gave impetus to QUAD,” said Harsh Pant, vice president of studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation. QUAD is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States that aims for a “peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

Trade tensions between China and the U.S., which escalated during Trump’s first term, also made India one of the many beneficiaries of the China+1 policy, as U.S. firms started to diversify their supply chains away from Beijing.

But during Trump’s second term, there has been a shift in the U.S. foreign policy, with Washington and New Delhi’s relations getting frayed over trade and tariffs. The U.S. president even warned Apple not to build smartphones in India as he pursues his “America First” agenda.

“The narrative of India as a counterbalance to China has weakened under the Trump administration,” said Chietigj Bajpaee, senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House, adding that Trump’s foreign policy during the second term has been more transactional and less value-driven.

India-U.S. relations suffered a major jolt last year, after Washington accused New Delhi of profiteering from cheap Russian oil and levied 25% in penalty tariffs, while looking past China’s Russian oil purchases.

Following the Xi-Trump meeting in Busan last year, Washington also cut tariffs on Chinese goods to around 47%, lower than the 50% that it was charging on imported Indian goods, before reducing them earlier this year.

“The [Trump] second administration started on a very hawkish note when it came to China, only to quickly realize that it did not have suitable substitutes for Chinese components necessary for US companies and consumers,” said Aryan D’Rozario, associate fellow, chair on India and emerging Asia economics at CSIS. That led to a softening of the stance against Beijing.

While U.S.-India ties soured as Trump pursued his transactional foreign policy, Beijing and New Delhi have been embroiled in border disputes for decades and relations have been fraught with tensions. Against that backdrop, India will be watching the outcome of the U.S.-China summit more closely than most Asian countries.

“From New Delhi’s perspective, it will be looking at the Trump-Xi meeting with a degree of trepidation amid concerns about the revival of a so-called ‘G2’ concept, which marginalizes middle-powers like India,” Bajpaee said.

Modi says Iran war poses severe risks to India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged citizens to curb fuel use, reduce overseas travel, and pause gold purchases, underscoring the severe impact of the Iran war on the economy. Higher energy costs are expected to significantly widen the country’s trade deficit and current account deficit.

India’s inflation in April rises for a sixth straight month
India’s consumer price inflation in April rose for a sixth straight month to 3.48% from 3.40% in March, even as the government kept prices at the pump steady to shield consumers from rising global oil prices.

New Delhi hikes bullion import duties to ease pressure on the rupee
India, the world’s second-largest gold consumer, has raised import duties on gold and silver to 15% from 6%, just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to curb bullion purchases for a year as overseas purchases pressure the rupee.

Coming up

May 14-15: India to host BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

May 15-20: PM Modi to visit the UAE, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy.