U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held the first phone call since Trump ascended into office, a call that has been described as high stakes, on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Both sides confirmed the call, which took place amid intensifying tensions and a renewed stalemate in the volatile truce that has seen tariffs on goods from either nation at their highest again.
The conversation lasted about an hour and a half. Per Trump's description on Truth Social, the conversation was quite pleasant and was focused almost entirely on TRADE, trying to cool down recent tensions before they explode into a complete economic rupture.
There has been no formal statement issued from the White House; however, Trump's posts described the conversation as having a 'very positive conclusion' for both sides, agreeing to follow-up meetings between high-level delegations that would, from the U.S. side, include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Trump added that Xi had 'graciously invited' him and First Lady Melania Trump to China and that he had "graciously reciprocated that invitation." This is important because Trump specified, "Nothing was discussed concerning Russia/Ukraine or Iran."
Chinese state sources, including Xinhua, also welcomed the conversation, quoting President Xi verbally urging both sides to "correct the course" of their rocky relationship. Xi spoke of the importance of "steering well and setting the direction, especially to eliminate all kinds of interference and even destruction."
The urgent plea came after weeks of festering tension. The U.S. accused China of breaching the May 12 truce agreement by restricting the export of rare earth minerals, considered crucial by the U.S. manufacturing base in industries such as automobiles and semiconductors. This prompted fears of the stoppage of production in some U.S. factories.
The Trump administration retaliated with measures to potentially revoke visas for some categories of Chinese students and to impose controls on high-tech component sales. Beijing denies any breach of the Geneva agreement, claiming that the rare earth controls had a global scope and were not targeted specifically at the U.S.
The May Geneva talks partially calmed a full-scale trade war in which U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods went all the way up to 145%, with China reciprocating. The two sides agreed on a 90-day truce as a window for their negotiators to seek a long-term solution. The uncertainty was revived, however, a day before, when Trump stated on social media that Xi was "VERY TOUGH AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!"
Though the face-to-face encounter between the leaders on Thursday may bring some short-term relief and relax present tensions, the real issues still remain complex and intricate. Both the U.S. and China are competing for economic supremacy, with fundamental disagreements on intellectual property, market access, and industrial subsidies being prominent.
Future rounds of negotiation will find increasing pressure to avoid another big-scale economic disruption. The world markets will be waiting for indications of concrete developments rather than mere empty diplomatic niceties as the top two economies of the world are thrown around in their turbulent trade relationship.