US President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on May 14 for a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where trade relations will be among the main topics of the agenda. Trump had initially planned to visit China in late March. However, the trip was postponed after the Iran conflict escalated. The visit comes at a moment when Chinese automakers are months away from entering the North American market. Canada struck a trade deal with Beijing in January, lowering tariffs on Chinese-built EVs from 100% to 6.1% under a quota of 49,000 vehicles per year — with a ramp-up to 70,000 by 2030. The agreement marked a decisive shift from Ottawa toward Beijing and away from Washington on EV trade policy, after Canada had originally imposed the 100% surtax in lockstep with the Biden administration in late 2024. The first tranche of 24,500 import permits opened on March 1 and Chinese giants BYD, Chery, and Geely Auto are all preparing for Canadian market entry by year-end. Meanwhile, Chinese-built vehicles have already started appearing on American roads through Mexico. BYD vehicles with Mexican license plates have been spotted in Texas and California through a customs loophole that allows Mexican residents to drive their foreign-registered vehicles across the border — despite the tight rules on Chinese vehicles’ connectivity in the US. Tariffs The barriers keeping Chinese EVs out of the US have been assembled across two administrations. Trump’s first-term administration applied a 25% Section 301 tariff on Chinese vehicles and auto parts starting in 2018. Under Biden’s presidency, the duties were maintained and, in May 2024, quadrupled from 25% to 100% under the same authority. Upon returning to office in 2025, Trump preserved Biden’s 100% EV tariff and added a 25% Section 232 national security tariff on all imported