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President Donald Trump said he had a lengthy phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, as the leaders held their first known phone call of Trump’s term in an apparent effort to revive stalled trade negotiations.
“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,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He said the call lasted an hour and a half and yielded “a very positive conclusion” for both countries.
Trump said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would soon lead the American negotiating team in further trade talks. He also said the future of Iran’s controversial nuclear program and Russia’s war in Ukraine wasn’t discussed on the call.
The Chinese state-run outlet Xinhua said that Trump initiated the call with Xi but didn’t provide additional details. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China had reached a boiling point due to a string of retaliatory measures in recent weeks. Both countries have accused each other of reneging on an interim accord struck last month in Geneva that scaled back triple-digit tariffs in the ongoing trade war.
The Trump administration has said China violated the compact by restricting exports of critical rare earth minerals that are key components in autos and semiconductors. It subsequently put forward a proposal to revoke visas for some Chinese nationals studying in the U.S.
Beijing has said that new restrictions on rare earth exports apply to all countries, and weren’t intended to single out the U.S.
There’s mounting pressure on the White House to salvage the negotiations. American auto suppliers sent a letter Thursday pushing for the U.S. to take immediate steps to address Chinese export controls, which are beginning to lead to shortages. China produces 90% of the rare-earth magnets that are important to the production of motors, brakes and steering mechanisms.
“The situation remains unresolved and the level of concern remains very high,” the group said in a letter from MEMA, the Vehicle Suppliers Association, first reported by Reuters. “Immediate and decisive action is needed to prevent widespread disruption and economic fallout across the vehicle supplier sector.”
Trump signaled a Chinese reprieve on the restrictions without providing more details. “There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products,” he said in the same Truth Social post.