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On-again, off-again Xi meeting is visit's centerpiece

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Five-day trip spans Malaysia, Japan and South Korea

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Trump tests deal-making prowess in tariff-battered region

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump will test his deal-making prowess in a region battered by

his hardball trade policies on a trip to Asia next week, as

doubts hang over his highly anticipated meeting with China's Xi

Jinping.

Trump, who leaves Washington on Friday night, is set for a

five-day trip spanning Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his

first to the region and his longest journey abroad since taking

office in January.

The Republican leader hopes to pile up trade, business and

ceasefire deals before turning to the toughest challenge, a

face-to-face with Xi on Thursday in South Korea.

The trip comes as Trump works to maintain the signature

foreign policy achievement of his second term, a fragile

ceasefire he helped strike in the Israel-Gaza conflict, while

the Russian war in Ukraine rages and a trade war with China

shows little sign of abating.

Washington and Beijing have hiked tariffs on each other's

exports and threatened to cut off critical minerals and

technologies altogether, putting markets on edge.

The trip was formally announced by the White House on

Thursday and details remain in flux, including the meeting

between leaders of the world's two largest economies.

Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore terms

of trade that existed before Trump's second-term inauguration in

January, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

Instead, talks between the two sides to prepare for the meeting

focused on managing disagreements and modest improvements.

An interim agreement could include limited relief on

tariffs, an extension of current rates or China committing to

buy U.S.-made soybeans and Boeing ( BA ) airplanes. Beijing

reneged on similar promises in a 2020 deal with Trump.

Washington could let more high-end computer chips flow to

Beijing, which in turn could loosen controls on rare earth

magnets that have angered Trump.

Or, nothing could come of the talks at all.

On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the

Trump-Xi talk would be a "pull-aside," suggesting nothing

formal. Trump later told reporters the two would have "a pretty

long meeting," allowing them to "work out a lot of our questions

and our doubts and our tremendous assets together."

China has not confirmed a meeting is planned.

TRUMP SET TO VISIT THREE COUNTRIES, MEET WORLD LEADERS

Mira Rapp-Hooper, a visiting fellow at the Brookings

Institution and former Biden administration official, said

Trump's Asia policy has been defined by intense pressure on

countries' trade policies and defense spending.

"The high-level question on this trip is really, who does

the United States stand with, and what does it stand for," she

said.

Trump is expected at the Association of Southeast Asian

Nations summit, which starts on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.

There, he could oversee the signing of a ceasefire deal

between Thailand and Cambodia. The deal would formalize an

agreement that ended the worst fighting in years between the two

countries in July, though it falls short of a comprehensive

peace deal. During his second term in office, Trump has branded

himself as a global peacemaker.

After that stop, Trump will head to Japan to meet Sanae

Takaichi, the newly elected prime minister. Takaichi is expected

to affirm plans by her predecessor to hike military spending and

to make $550 billion in Trump-directed investments in the U.S.

Then, in South Korea, Trump plans to meet Xi ahead of an

international trade summit. Trump is set to return to Washington

before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' forum gets

underway, according to the schedule announced by the White House

on Thursday.

Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to

a total of some 155% from November 1 if they can't strike a

deal, a move that would almost certainly provoke a reaction from

Beijing and end a truce that paused tit-for-tat hikes.

Beyond trade, the two leaders are expected to discuss

Taiwan, a long-running U.S.-China irritant, and Russia, a

Chinese ally now subject to expanded U.S. sanctions over the war

in Ukraine.

DEAL OR NO DEAL

Besides China, Trump is trying to close trade deals with

Canada, Malaysia and India, while repairing issues with one

already struck with South Korea.

U.S. and South Korean relations have been strained by

Seoul's concerns over the $350 billion investment in U.S.

companies sought by Trump and deportations of the country's

foreign workers.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wants Trump to pursue

peace with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. U.S. officials considered,

but never confirmed, a trip to the demilitarized zone (DMZ)

separating the two Koreas, according to another person familiar

with the discussions.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt

Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Lincoln Feast.)