A $13-billion arms sale to Taiwan has been delayed by the State Department ahead of an April visit to China by President Donald Trump.
(Provided by: Rich Townsend/iStockPhotos).
The White House has decided to hold off on a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan before President Donald Trump visits Beijing in April, administration officials said.
According to the New York Times, the sale includes air-defense missiles. The deal was approved by Republican and Democratic leadership early this year after a review of State Department documents related to the transaction. However, the $13-billion deal has been stuck at the State Department since.
Several reports have blamed the delay on not wanting to upset Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of Trump’s visit to China. Chinese government news organizations reported that China’s longstanding opposition to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan was brought up during a Feb. 4 phone call between Trump and Xi.
While the U.S. has not formally recognized Taiwan as China’s legitimate government since 1979, it has maintained close ties to the island, including selling it billions of dollars worth of weapons in the last 47 years.
In December 2025, China put sanctions on 20 U.S. defense companies and 10 of their executives in retaliation for $11 billion in pending U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The sanctions include freezing assets in China and ban organizations and people from doing business with the entities. Affected companies include Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., L3Harris Maritime Services, Vantor and Boeing’s St. Louis defense industry operations. However, the sanctions were largely symbolic, since China does not deal with U.S. defense firms.
