Business Lookahead: Trump on Tour

May 9, 2026 - 18:18

The coming week brings a mix of high-stakes diplomacy and critical economic reports, with President Donald Trump's trip to Beijing and a fresh wave of U.S. data taking center stage.

Trump arrives in China on Thursday and Friday for his first visit to the country in eight years. The main goal is to solidify the trade truce reached in October in South Korea. He wants to avoid a repeat of the tit-for-tat tariff war he sparked a year ago. New trade data will offer a reality check on whether the protectionist White House has managed to curb American demand for Chinese-made goods.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco, the world's largest crude oil exporter, reports first-quarter results on Sunday. The numbers are expected to show the impact of the more than two-month-old conflict with Iran. Efforts to end the fighting appear stalled after the U.S. and Iran traded fire in recent days, including some of the biggest flare-ups in and around the Strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire began a month ago.

On the U.S. economic front, a batch of new data will give a clearer view of inflation. Tuesday's April consumer price index is expected to rise 0.6%, according to a Reuters poll, with prices at the pump likely playing a big role. Producer price data for April follows on Wednesday, serving as another inflation checkpoint after the Fed's last meeting revealed a more hawkish tilt among some policymakers uneasy about price pressures. Finally, retail sales figures on Thursday will show whether higher gas prices and other costs are starting to cut into household spending.