US-China tariff war: Trump, Xi expected to talk soon on minerals trade dispute

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to speak soon to resolve ongoing trade disputes, including recent tensions over critical minerals, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday (June 1).

On Friday, Trump accused China of breaching a bilateral agreement to mutually reduce tariffs and ease restrictions on trade in critical minerals, which are vital for industries worldwide.

“What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe. And that is not what a reliable partner does,” Bessent said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“I am confident that when President Trump and Party Chairman Xi have a call, that this will be ironed out. But the fact that they are withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement - maybe it’s a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it’s intentional. We’ll see after the President speaks with the party chairman,” he added.

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China confirmed in April that Xi and Trump had not communicated recently. Trump, however, said on Friday (May 30) he anticipated speaking with Xi soon.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said no specific date has been finalized for the conversation, but discussions are underway for a dialogue regarding last month’s Geneva agreement addressing tariff issues.

“President Trump, we expect, is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi. That’s our expectation,” Hassett said.

China-US trade tensions

Since Trump returned to the presidency, he has slapped sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners, with especially high rates on Chinese imports.

New tit-for-tat levies on both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation this month, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent.

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China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125 percent to 10 percent.

With inputs from Reuters