President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke Thursday and agreed that officials from the U.S. and China will meet soon for more talks to resolve an ongoing trade war.
Trump said he had a “very good” call with Xi for about 90 minutes, which focused “almost entirely” on trade.
The call “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
He said that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. in the renewed trade talks.
Trade officials from the countries last met in May in Geneva, where they agreed to temporarily lower retaliatory tariffs on imports from each other’s countries.
But the Trump administration has accused Beijing of slow-walking a pledge made in Geneva to approve the export of additional critical minerals, known as rare earths, to the United States.
Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and China’s embassy in the U.S. said earlier Thursday that Trump had requested the call with Xi.
Trump has reportedly been eager to speak with Xi, as already-strained trade relations between the two countries frayed further in the past week.
After Thursday’s call, Trump wrote, “There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products.” He did not explain what that meant.
China has expressed deep frustration with a recent decision to impose new restrictions on Chinese student visas. It has also accused the Trump administration of undermining recent trade progress by issuing an industry warning against using Chinese semiconductors.
The Trump administration has also imposed additional export restrictions on chips. The White House claims the actions are required to protect national security, but Beijing views them as punitive.
Stocks seesawed Thursday morning on news of the call, which was first reported by Chinese state media.
The call “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,” Trump wrote.
He also noted that he and Xi did not discuss any matters related to Russia, Ukraine or Iran.
The U.S. president added that Xi invited him and first lady Melania Trump to visit China, “and I reciprocated.”
The impasse between the two economic superpowers — whose trade relationship totaled nearly $600 billion in 2024 — is weighing on Trump’s broader tariff regime, which is already having a real-world impact.
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Thursday’s conversation was only the second time this year that the two leaders have held a one-on-one call. Trump and Xi previously spoke on Jan. 17, before the U.S. president’s inauguration.
Ahead of the latest call, Trump praised Xi in a social media post that also betrayed his frustration.
“I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” Trump wrote early Wednesday morning.
China has been a prime target of Trump’s efforts to wield steep, unilateral tariffs for the stated goal of recalibrating America’s trade relationships with the rest of the world.
Trump had ratcheted blanket tariffs on Chinese imports up to 145% in April, even as he temporarily lowered duties on most other countries to 10%. Beijing hiked tariffs on U.S. goods to 125% in retaliation.
The tariffs effectively led to a trade embargo. But that logjam appeared to shift in mid-May, after the talks in Geneva that both sides described as successful and productive.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng and Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
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