President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese language chief Xi Jinping on Thursday morning about their ongoing commerce battle, with Trump saying the 2 leaders agreed to have their groups resume talks “shortly.”
Trump wrote on Fact Social that the decision lasted about 90 minutes and centered “virtually completely on commerce,” after representatives from the 2 largest economies met in Geneva final month and agreed to briefly cut back tariffs. He mentioned the decision “resulted in a really optimistic conclusion for each Nations” and that the export of uncommon earth minerals, that are vital to the U.S. automotive trade, had been addressed in the course of the dialog.
China’s official Xinhua Information Company mentioned the decision occurred at Trump’s request. The White Home didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Trump mentioned that upcoming talks will embrace Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer. He added that Xi invited him to go to China and that he reciprocated the supply. “President Xi graciously invited the First Girl and me to go to China, and I reciprocated. As Presidents of two Nice Nations, that is one thing that we each stay up for doing.”
The decision was seemingly the primary time the 2 leaders spoke since Trump took workplace in January. Nevertheless, in an April interview with TIME, Trump claimed that Xi had already known as him—which Chinese language officers disputed.
The talks got here someday after Trump mentioned it was troublesome to achieve a take care of Xi: “I like President XI of China, at all times have, and at all times will, however he’s VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!,” Trump wrote on Fact Social on Wednesday.
Commerce negotiations between the 2 leaders had stalled after each international locations agreed on Could 12 to briefly decrease tariffs, with Trump dropping his 145% tariffs on Chinese language items to 30% for 90 days, and Xi easing its levies from 125% to 10%. However the Trump Administration has accused China of reneging on the phrases by curbing exports of uncommon earth minerals utilized by American producers. China has rejected that cost, saying its export controls apply globally and should not focused at the US. In response, the Trump Administration has proposed revoking visas for some Chinese language college students and issuing new export controls on superior applied sciences reminiscent of jet engine elements and A.I. chips.
“China, maybe not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” Trump wrote on Fact Social final week. “A lot for being Mr. NICE GUY!”
Following the decision with Xi, Trump mentioned “there ought to not be any questions respecting the complexity of Uncommon Earth merchandise.”
Trump has made lowering America’s dependency on Chinese language manufacturing a cornerstone of his second-term agenda. Xi, going through a sluggish post-COVID financial system and protracted pressures from an actual property slowdown, is pushing to safe China’s dominance in future applied sciences like electrical automobiles and synthetic intelligence.
The USA ran a $295 billion commerce deficit with China in 2024, based on U.S. Census Bureau information, a determine Trump often cites as proof of unfair commerce practices. His Administration maintains that solely top-level talks can break the present impasse. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent not too long ago mentioned {that a} leader-to-leader trade was important to restart negotiations in earnest.
