Trump says Xi told him that China is not sending weapons to Iran

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WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said China’s President Xi Jinping told him Beijing is not providing weapons to Iran in a letter exchange between the two leaders ahead of their high-profile summit.

Mr Trump in an interview with Fox Business said he wrote to Mr Xi motivated by concerns over arms sales amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

“He responded to a letter that I wrote because I had heard that China is giving weapons to, I mean, you’re seeing it all over the place, to Iran, that China is giving weapons,” Mr Trump said in the interview, which was taped on April 14 and aired on April 15.

“And I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that, and he wrote me a letter saying that, essentially, he’s not doing that,” he said.

Mr Trump has threatened 50 per cent tariffs on goods from countries arming Tehran, which could upend the US-China trade relationship if he follows through.

Beijing does not directly ship arms to Iran but does provide it with dual-use technology.

The exchange of letters came ahead of Mr Trump’s planned May 14 and 15 visit to Beijing for a summit with Mr Xi.

That meeting comes as the relationship between the world’s two largest economies faces fresh strains from the Iran war, which pushed back their initial meeting.

Mr Trump has long touted what he sees as a positive relationship with Mr Xi.

The leaders agreed in 2025 to extend a tariff truce, roll back export controls and reduce other barriers after a trade fight that rocked financial markets. But they still face lingering challenges, including on trade, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

The Iran war has further complicated the US-China dynamic, with Tehran closing off the Strait or Hormuz, a waterway for a fifth of the world’s oil supplies.

Following failed talks last weekend to extend an ongoing ceasefire, Mr Trump has moved to blockade traffic to and from Iran’s ports to ramp up pressure on Tehran.

Mr Trump downplayed the impact of US moves on Iran on the dynamic of the upcoming summit with Mr Xi.

“I don’t think it does. I mean, he’s somebody that needs oil. We don’t,” he said.

Still, those disruptions present an economic threat to China, which is the largest customer for Iranian oil and a major trading partner. Fresh data on April 14 showed China’s export growth slowing sharply in March.

Mr Trump did not specify when the letters were sent.

He told reporters earlier this week that Mr Xi had not directly engaged him about the Iran conflict, saying he believed the Chinese President “would like to see this ended also”.

On April 14, Mr Xi made his first public statement on the conflict, telling Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that “the international order is crumbling into disarray”.

China has urged all parties in the conflict to show restraint. BLOOMBERG