Xi-Trump Call Signals Political Will to Resume Trade Talks But Hurdles Remain

Each side's call readouts unclear on whether and how thorny issues had been ironed out

- Joyce ZK Lim

BEIJING/SHENZHEN - Chinese President Xi Jinping's 90-minute call with his US counterpart Donald Trump amid high bilateral tensions will allow him to project confidence at home, but the road ahead for trade talks remains fraught with obstacles, observers say.

The much-anticipated phone conversation on June 5 came after both countries accused each other of violating a temporary truce that top negotiators had sealed in Geneva less than a month earlier.

That agreement in mid-May dialled down tariffs between the world's two largest economies which through a tit-for-tat escalation from April had reached unsustainably high levels - for 90 days.

But the US has since complained that China was still restricting crucial rare earth exports, contravening a part of the deal. Washington then imposed more curbs of its own, including on the export of chip design software, and also said it would revoke visas of Chinese students studying in America.

The readouts of the call alluded to some of these issues, but it is unclear from the vague language and differing treatments whether and how these issues had been ironed out.

Professor Wu Xinbo, director of the Centre for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University, said that the call signalled an intention by both countries to "speed up progress in economic and trade negotiations".

But for now, "it effectively sets the relationship back to what it was at the Geneva meeting", said Ms Guo Shan, a partner at business consultancy Hutong Research.

The leaders' call - their first known contact since Mr Trump took office in January 2025 for a second term - produced an agreement that economic and trade negotiators would soon meet for more talks.

US think-tank Asia Society Policy Institute's (ASPI) vice-president Wendy Cutler said the bilateral disputes that have come up since the Geneva meeting underscore just how difficult and complicated the upcoming trade talks will be.