WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has said that he had a “good conversation” with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and they straightened out any complexity. He stated that US has a deal with China but they were straightening out some of the points.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday (local time), he stated that Xi Jinping invited him to China and he has accepted the invitation. He mentioned that he has also invited Xi to the US. Trump stated that US is in “very good shape” with China and the trade deal.
Regarding his telephonic conversation with Xi Jinping, Trump said, “We had a very good talk and we’ve straightened out any complexity. It’s very complex stuff and we straighten it out. The agreement was we’re going to have Scott and Howard and Jameson will be going and meeting with their top people and continue it forward. But no, I think we have everything. I think we’re in very good shape with China and the trade deal. We have a deal with China, as you know, but we were straightening out some of the points, having to do mostly with rare earth, magnets and some other things”.
When asked whether the reduced trade tariff rates remain in effect, Trump stated, “Those reduced trade tariff rates, they remain in effect. We have the deal. I mean, we’ve had a deal, announced the deal. And we’ll be, I guess you could say, I wouldn’t even say finalizing it up, I would say we have a deal and we’re going to just make sure that everybody understands what the deal is. We had a really good conversation. By the way, he invited me to China and I invited him here. We both accepted. So, I’ll be going there with the First Lady at a certain point. He’ll be coming here, hopefully, with the First Lady of China”.
Trump also shared details regarding his conversation with Xi on his social media platform Truth Social. He stated that the call lasted for one and a half hours and resulted in a “very positive conclusion of both nations”. He stated that the teams of the US and China will hold a meeting and the US will be represented by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal. The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries. There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products”.
“Our respective teams will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined. We will be represented by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer. During the conversation, President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated. As Presidents of two Great Nations, this is something that we both look forward to doing. The conversation was focused almost entirely on TRADE. Nothing was discussed concerning Russia/Ukraine, or Iran. We will inform the Media as to scheduling and location of the soon to be meeting. Thank you for your attention to this matter”, he added.
The talks between the two leaders come days after Trump accused China of breaching a deal negotiated between officials of the two nations in Geneva last month to roll back high tariffs for 90 days. However, China rejected Trump’s allegations on Monday and accused the US of provoking “new economic and trade frictions.”
On May 30, Trump accused China of violating a recent trade agreement with the US. However, he did not mention China’s action that violated its agreement with China.
In a post shared on Truth Social, he stated, “Two weeks ago, China was in grave economic danger! The very high Tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to TRADE into the United States marketplace, which is, by far, the number one in the World. We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, ‘civil unrest.’ I saw what was happening and didn’t like it, for them, not for us.”
“I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY,” he added.
Earlier in May, the US announced a trade deal with China in Geneva. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said that there was substantial progress between the parties.
“I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks. First, I want to thank our Swiss host. The Swiss government has been very kind in providing us this wonderful venue, and I think that led to a great deal of productivity we’ve seen. We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive,” the White House quoted Bessent as saying.
“We had the vice premier, two vice ministers, who were integrally involved, Ambassador Jamieson, and myself. And I spoke to President Trump, as did Ambassador Jamieson, last night, and he is fully informed of what is going on. So, there will be a complete briefing tomorrow morning,” he added.
In May, the two nations also agreed to withdraw reciprocal tariffs for an initial 90-day period. The US and China arrived at an agreement that they will withdraw their previously announced reciprocal tariffs and counter tariffs for an initial period of 90 days.
In the meantime, China will impose 10 per cent tariffs on US goods, and the US will tax Chinese goods at about 30 per cent. The understanding was arrived at recognising the importance of their bilateral economic and trade relationship to both countries and the global economy, as per a joint statement. Both countries recognised the importance of a sustainable, long-term, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship. (ANI)
