The conversation comes amid Trump’s growing frustration with stalled trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump held a phone call with Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping on Thursday morning, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.
The White House has not yet confirmed the call.
The conversation comes amid Trump’s growing frustration with stalled trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
On June 4, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Xi was “extremely hard to make a deal with,” after aides said Trump is expected to have a trade negotiations call with Xi this week.
“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.
Trade officials from both countries met in Geneva and announced a 90-day agreement on May 12, during which the high tariffs and retaliatory measures were supposed to be rolled back as further trade negotiations took place.
On May 30, Trump, however, revealed that the Chinese communist regime had “violated” the agreement by “slow-rolling” the critical mineral export restrictions it had agreed to roll back.
China dominates the critical minerals market by processing and refining both its own raw materials and those imported from other countries. This gives Beijing significant control over the global supply chain for these essential resources.
Beijing initially denied violating the trade agreement on May 30. It escalated its remarks on June 2, when a spokesperson with the regime’s commerce ministry issued a statement through state media in which it attacked Washington’s decision to revoke visas for Chinese students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. It also criticized U.S. warnings of potential penalties over the use of Huawei’s artificial intelligence chips, which the United States believed were created in violation of U.S. export controls.
Catherine Yang contributed to this report.
By Emel Akan
