trump-xi-to-speak-soon-on-trade-tensions

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to speak this week in a renewed attempt to ease rising trade tensions between the two countries, according to the White House.

 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that a conversation between the two leaders is likely to take place soon. This comes just days after Trump accused Beijing of reneging on an earlier agreement aimed at reducing tariffs and easing trade restrictions.

 

The upcoming phone call is intended to address long-standing disputes and revive momentum after a temporary truce agreed in Geneva last month showed signs of stalling.

 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the recent negotiations with Chinese officials in Geneva, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Trump and Xi would speak “very soon” to resolve ongoing differences. These include contentious issues such as China’s restrictions on exports of critical minerals.

 

Trump, speaking on Friday, expressed confidence that talks with Xi would resume. China, however, stated in April that the two leaders had not engaged directly in recent months.

 

The Geneva talks resulted in a 90-day suspension of high tariffs, which briefly lifted global markets. But the agreement failed to resolve deeper concerns, including China’s state-controlled economy and its export-driven trade model, which the U.S. has long criticised as unfair.

 

Despite this, progress on key issues has been slow. “There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Bessent told Fox News last week, signalling the need for continued high-level engagement.

 

Meanwhile, legal proceedings over Trump’s tariff policy have added further complexity. A U.S. trade court ruled last Wednesday that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing broad tariffs under emergency powers.

 

However, a federal appeals court overturned that decision the next day, allowing the tariffs to remain in place while the matter undergoes further judicial review. Both parties have been asked to submit their arguments by early June.