Trump and Xi hold talks without major breakthroughs

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first phone call Thursday since the U.S.-China tariff war began in February. Despite the high-level dialogue, analysts say major differences remain unresolved. The two nations announced the resumption of senior-level trade negotiations immediately after the call, but no specific agreements were reached. Instead, the leaders discussed key issues, including China’s rare earth export controls and the Taiwan situation. The Associated Press described the call as having “prevented derailment of trade talks but produced no clear breakthroughs on key issues.”

According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, the 90-minute call was made at the U.S. request. Xi said it was the United States, not China, that failed to implement the Geneva agreement. “China has implemented the agreement seriously and earnestly,” Xi stated. He urged the U.S. to objectively evaluate progress and end its negative actions toward China. His comments referred to several U.S. measures under the Trump administration, such as export controls on artificial intelligence semiconductors and electronic design automation software, along with visa cancellations for Chinese students.

On Taiwan, Xi warned, “The Taiwan issue must be handled prudently, and a small group of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists must not be allowed to push China and the United States into a dangerous situation of conflict and confrontation.” His remarks reinforced Taiwan as a non-negotiable “red line” in future talks.

Trump called the conversation “very positive” on his social media platform Truth Social soon after the call. He had previously posted several messages expressing his wish to speak with Xi, but China had not responded. On rare earth exports, Trump said, “There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of rare earth products,” suggesting a potential agreement while providing no further details.

After the call, the Chinese government made no statements on rare earth export controls, and Trump did not comment on Taiwan. Analysts continue to view key issues including rare earth exports as unresolved. The Wall Street Journal, citing Cornell University economics professor Eswar Prasad, noted that the differences in announcements suggest Xi maintained a firm stance while Trump failed to secure meaningful concessions.


Chul-Jung Kim tnf@donga.com