Trump is taking America's biggest CEOs to China
What's the story
US President Donald Trump will be accompanied by a number of top business and tech industry executives on his upcoming trip to China. The delegation includes NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk, BlackRock's Larry Fink among others. Other companies represented in the delegation are Meta, Visa, JP Morgan and Boeing.
Diverse representation
Over a dozen top executives from various industries
The US-China trip will see over a dozen top executives from various industries. Along with Huang, Musk, Cook and Fink, the delegation also includes Meta's Dina Powell McCormick, Boeing's Kelly Ortberg, Visa's Ryan McInerney and Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman. Other members are Cargill's Brian Sikes, Citi's Jane Fraser Coherent's Jim Anderson GE Aerospace Henry Lawrence Culp Goldman Sachs David Solomon Illumina Jacob Thaysen Mastercard Michael Miebach.
Notable inclusion
Micron's Sanjay Mehrotra to join
Sanjay Mehrotra, the CEO of Micron Technology, will also be part of Trump's delegation. His inclusion is significant as Beijing had banned some Micron chips in critical infrastructure in 2023 on national security grounds. The move had reportedly hurt Micron's business in China. Semiconductors continue to be at the heart of US-China economic ties amid ongoing tensions over technology and export controls.
Absence noted
Cisco's Chuck Robbins declines due to earnings call
Chuck Robbins, the CEO and chairman of Cisco, was invited to join the trip but had to decline due to earnings. This was confirmed by a company spokeswoman. Despite his absence, the delegation still represents a wide range of US business interests from social media and consumer hardware to computer chips and commercial manufacturing.
Last-minute addition
Huang boarded Air Force One in Anchorage
In a last-minute development, Huang boarded Air Force One headed to Beijing when it stopped for refueling in Anchorage, Alaska. A NVIDIA spokesperson said, "Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration's goals." This will be Trump's first visit to China as president and a major test of a fragile trade truce between the two countries after a tit-for-tat trade war.
Trade tensions
Meeting overshadowed by US-Iran war
The upcoming meeting will be overshadowed by the US and Israel's war in Iran, which has already delayed Trump's meeting with Xi. Trump is expected to urge China, which depends on Iran for cheap oil, to help broker a deal between Tehran and Washington to end the war. Despite the conflict, China's huge oil reserves and diversified energy supply have helped it withstand the impact of the war better than many other countries.