U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his first call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping since returning to office was “very positive”, announcing that the two countries would hold trade talks in hopes of breaking the deadlock on tariffs and global supply of rare earth minerals.
“Our respective teams will meet at a certain location soon,” Trump wrote on his social media platform after the call, saying it lasted for an hour and a half.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. negotiations.
The Republican president returned to his second term in the White House in January, and said that Xi Jinping invited him and First Lady Melania Trump to China and accepted his own invitation to Xi Jinping to visit the United States.
China’s foreign ministry said Trump has launched a call between the world’s two largest economies.
Xi Jinping asked Trump to “eliminate negative measures taken by the United States against China,” the ministry said in a statement. It also said that Trump said, “The United States likes to let Chinese students study in the United States”, even though his administration vowed to revoke some of their visas.
Xi Jinping told Trump that the relationship between the two sides is compared with the ship, and both sides need to “steer and set the right route” and “avoid all kinds of interference and interference.”
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Trump announced a day ago that it would be difficult to reach an agreement with XI.
“I like Xi Jinping in China, always and always will, but he is very difficult and it is difficult to make a deal with it!” Trump posted on his social media website on Wednesday.
Shortly after the two countries reached an agreement on May 12, trade negotiations between the United States and China stagnated to lower their tariff rates while negotiating at the same time. Behind the deadlock is the ongoing competition for economic advantages.
The United States accused China of not exporting key minerals, and the Chinese government opposed U.S. sales, restricted sales of its advanced chips and restricted access to student visas for universities and graduate students.
Trump lowered his 145% tariff on Chinese goods to 30% in 90 days for negotiations. China also lowered the tax rate on U.S. goods from 125% to 10%. Back and forth has caused dramatic fluctuations in global markets and threatened to hinder trade between the two countries.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that only a dialogue between Trump and Xi Jinping could resolve these differences so that negotiations could be launched seriously. However, potential tensions between the two countries can still persist.
Xi Jinping said on the phone that the Chinese side is sincere in negotiations and “also has its principles,” and the Chinese president said: “Chinese people always respect and deliver everything they have promised.”
Even if negotiations resume, Trump hopes to reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese factories and reindustrialize the U.S., while China hopes to continue to advance technologies such as electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, which is crucial to ensuring the future of its economy.
According to the Census Bureau, the U.S. trade imbalance with China reached $295 billion in 2024. While the Chinese government’s focus on manufacturing has turned it into a major economic and geopolitical power, China has been undercutting consumer spending amid a slowdown in the wake of the real estate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
Trump and Xi Jinping spoke in January three days before the last time they took office. At the time, the two discussed trade and the measures Trump asked China to prevent the entry of the synthetic opioid fentanyl from entering the United States.
Despite optimism about the prospects for a major deal, Trump has become even more pessimistic lately.
“The bad news is that China may not be surprising to some people, it’s totally a violation of our consent,” Trump said last week. “Be a good man!”
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
