US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Trump wrote on his social media, Truth Social. The conversation was almost entirely about trade and was, according to Trump, "very good." According to Trump, there was no discussion of the war in Ukraine or Iran.
- The conversation lasted about an hour and a half and ended with a very positive conclusion for both countries, writes Donald Trump.
The US and China - the world's two largest economies - have crossed swords in a comprehensive tariff war in recent months. Trump says that representatives of China and the US will meet soon. The time and place will be announced at a later date. The US Secretary of Commerce and the Treasury Secretary, among others, will participate in the meeting, Trump says.
Xi Jinping also invited Donald Trump and the US first lady, Melania Trump, to visit China, Trump says.
According to the Chinese Embassy in the US, the phone call was made at the request of Trump, writes Reuters. According to the Xinhua news agency, the Chinese president told Trump over the phone that the US and China must "correct the course" of bilateral relations.
Has scaled back trade war
In May, the US and China agreed to a de-escalation in the trade war that had led to sky-high tariffs.
Under the tariff agreement, US tariffs on Chinese goods were lowered from 145 percent to 30 percent. China lowered tariffs on US goods from 125 to 10 percent. The agreement is valid for 90 days. But on Friday, Trump claimed that China had broken the agreement. He did not immediately elaborate on the accusation.
According to CNN, Trump has been trying to get the Chinese president on the phone for weeks. According to the media outlet, Chinese officials have postponed the conversation due to Trump's unpredictability and history of putting foreign leaders in embarrassing and awkward situations.
This applies, for example, to Trump's surprise attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in the Oval Office in February. Former US officials describe meetings and calls with Xi Jinping as carefully staged, writes CNN.
Nothing is left to chance. In telephone conversations with US presidents, Xi Jinping typically reads directly from prepared talking points, which are often repetitions of what he has said in previous conversations, writes CNN.
This format makes it very difficult to address specific topics that have not been agreed upon in advance.
Trump has led a zigzag course on tariffs, first greatly increasing tariffs on a large number of countries and then temporarily retreating from many of the highest tariffs. The rollback should allow for negotiations with individual countries and regions.
/ritzau/
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