Biden to meet with Chinas Xi at Peru summit ahead of Trump tariffs and COVID reparations push

WASHINGTON — Retiring President Biden will meet one last time with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of this week’s APEC summit in Peru — as President-elect Donald Trump threatens to slap new tariffs on Chinese goods and force the Asian nation to pay “reparations” for the COVID-19 pandemic.Biden, 81, and Xi, 71, will meet on Saturday in Lima — and administration officials say the US president plans to take a victory lap on a reduction in fentanyl overdose deaths this year after Xi privately agreed to restrict shipments of the lethal opioid last year at another Biden sitdown.More than 223,000 US residents died from fentanyl and related compounds during Biden’s first three years in office, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, and Republican politicians slammed Biden early in his term for not doing more to halt the flow.“We expect the president will use the opportunity to take stock of efforts to responsibly manage competition over the last four years and how the two countries have advanced areas of shared interest,” a US official said.“These steps are helping us combat the global fentanyl crisis at home and contributed to the decline in overdose deaths and disruption in the supply of illicit fentanyl that we’ve seen over the last year.”Bide and Xi also are expected to discuss artificial intelligence and global warming — as Trump routinely scoffs at China’s lack of commitment to reducing its own fossil fuels use.“On AI, the two sides have recognized the novel risks posed… and have begun to have difficult but productive conversations about AI safety and risk,” the US official added.“On climate, our country’s envoys have also had deep and meaningful discussions over the past four years, leading to three far ranging joint statements that have set the stage for climate commitments on greenhouse gas reductions, peak emissions and renewable energy.”Trump has been deeply skeptical of in...