US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke Thursday in a long-anticipated call aimed at easing escalating trade tensions between the two economic superpowers. Trump characterized the 90-minute conversation as ending on a “very positive” note, announcing plans for an in-person meeting and ongoing trade talks.
However, Beijing offered a more cautious tone, with President Xi emphasizing the need to “correct the course” of strained US-China relations and eliminate “interference and destruction.”
This marked their first publicly confirmed contact since Trump’s return to office in January. The call followed accusations from both sides over violations of a Geneva trade truce. Trump blamed China for “totally violating” the deal, while Beijing countered with claims of new US “discriminatory” restrictions, including student visa revocations.
Despite personal invitations to visit one another’s countries, the call did not touch on broader geopolitical concerns such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, focusing instead on trade—particularly rare earth mineral supply and tariff disputes.
The US and China have recently engaged in tit-for-tat tariffs, with rates soaring to 145% on some Chinese goods and 125% on US exports. While both sides agreed to a 90-day tariff reduction in Geneva, that fragile truce now appears in jeopardy as rhetoric intensifies.
Trump, who has publicly called Xi “extremely hard to make a deal with,” appears keen to revive negotiations, even as his administration moves forward with broader global tariff hikes, including a doubling of levies on steel and aluminum.
