US, China break months-long silence in “very good” call to ease trade war tensions

US President Donald Trump announced that he held a telephone conversation with China’s President Xi Jinping, breaking a months-long silence between the two leaders.

The call marks a significant and positive step toward deescalating the trade war that erupted this spring following Trump’s imposition of 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods, which prompted retaliatory measures from Beijing, effectively halting trade flows between the world’s two largest economies, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

This conversation was the first known direct exchange between Trump and Xi since the commencement of Trump’s second presidential term. However, the extent to which the two leaders addressed the core issues underpinning the bilateral tensions remains unclear.

Last month, senior officials from both nations convened in Geneva to negotiate a tentative détente, which Trump characterized at the time as a “total reset” in bilateral relations. Despite this, US officials have accused China of deliberately delaying its commitments—most notably, failing to resume the export of critical rare earth minerals and magnets vital to various high-tech industries. Conversely, China has expressed apprehension regarding recent US export restrictions targeting key Chinese sectors such as semiconductors and aerospace, measures justified by American national security concerns.

On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump described the exchange as a “very good phone call,” indicating plans for a follow-up meeting “shortly.” He confirmed that US delegates to forthcoming talks will include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Trump further revealed that President Xi extended an invitation for him to visit China, an offer that Trump reciprocated.

China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement noting that the call was initiated at Trump’s request. The readout suggested that while China has taken the Geneva agreement seriously, it urged the US to reassess its “negative actions” toward China in recent months.

Trump’s post emphasized that “there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products,” though it did not clarify whether a concrete agreement had been reached to resume the supply of these strategically important materials.

Notably absent from the conversation—and from Trump’s post—was any mention of fentanyl, the issue that initially sparked the trade conflict. Although China has reportedly submitted two proposals to the White House aimed at curbing the flow of precursor chemicals used by Mexican drug cartels to manufacture the addictive opioid, the US has remained noncommittal. Officials within the Trump administration continue to harbor doubts about China’s willingness to implement meaningful enforcement measures.

By Vafa Guliyeva