President Trump Welcomes China’s Xi; Trade, North Korea Issues Loom

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to his Florida retreat on Thursday for face-to-face meetings where Mr. Trump will raise concerns that Beijing should rein in its trade practices and do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, drove down a palm-lined driveway past a military honor guard to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. They posed for pictures with Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, before going inside.

The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies were expected to spend some private time together before a dinner with their wives and others, kicking off a summit dominated by trade and foreign policy issues that is set to conclude with a working lunch on Friday.

President Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Mr. Trump wants to deliver for them.

“We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about,” Mr. Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One.

He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

“Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognize the challenges China can present to American interests,” said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was also in Florida for the meeting.

Trump and Xi are set to dine in a candle-lit ornate private dining room at 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) at a long, formal table set for about 30 people and festooned with red and yellow floral centerpieces.

U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi.

“President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China’s predatory and protectionist practices,” said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union.

A U.S. administration official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to use legal tools to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits.

“I don’t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade,” a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

The White House has said North Korea was a test for the U.S.-China relationship, and President Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang.

“I think China will be stepping up,” Mr. Trump told reporters. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can but that it is up to the United States to find a way back to talks with North Korea.

President Trump consulted on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said he and the president agreed by phone that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat.”

A White House strategy review is focusing on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. Among measures under consideration are “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there.