President Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday amid ongoing tensions and stalled negotiations between the two countries over tariffs.
“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,” Trump said on Truth Social.
He added that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet “shortly” and that Xi invited him and first lady Melania Trump to visit China, while he invited Xi to the U.S. And he stressed that the call was all about trade and that the two leaders didn’t discuss the war in Ukraine or Iran.
“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,” he said. “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.”
He continued, “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!”
Xinhua, a Chinese state media outlet, first reported on the call, saying Xi “held phone talks” with Trump on Thursday.
The U.S. is in a fragile truce with its top trading partner after officials hashed out an agreement with China last month to lower the tariff rate on imports from 145 percent to 30 percent. Beijing also lowered its rate on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.
Trump and Xi have had a fraught relationship in recent years. Trump on Wednesday said Xi is “extremely hard to make a deal with” but that he has always liked the Chinese president.
Trump a week ago railed against China, saying Beijing violated the trade agreement with the U.S. that lowered the tariff rate.
At the time, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said talks with China over trade are somewhat in limbo, telling Fox News’s Bret Baier they are “a bit stalled” but that there may be a call between Trump and Xi at some point.
Following the trade deal two weeks ago, Trump said he thought China would have suffered more if the escalating trade war had been prolonged.
Trump on Tuesday extended a long-running exemption for Chinese-made chips from a 25 percent tariff imposed during his first administration. The exemption, which was set to expire, was extended to Aug. 31 and comes as the administration weighs whether to impose separate import taxes on semiconductors.
The White House also sent a letter this week to trade partners, urging them to make trade deals before the 90-day pause on Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” expires next month. Officials have not said which countries received the letters.
Trump and Xi spoke in January, just before the president’s inauguration, for talks focused on trade and the fate of the app TikTok.
Updated at 10:58 a.m. EDT