 "‘We’ll ultimately…’: Trump teases bilateral meeting with China’s Xi, but gives no timeline")
US President Donald Trump has said that he thinks his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will visit America in the near future but fell short of giving a timeline for the trip.
The president made the comments as he interacted with reporters in Air Force One, asserting that a new trade deal between the US and China “is possible”.
“We’ll have, ultimately, President Xi, we will have everybody coming (to the US),” Trump said while also speaking about other leaders visiting the United States.
Trump’s remarks come at a time when just a few weeks ago, he announced sweeping 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond with retaliatory tariffs and to file a WTO dispute against Washington.
The last time Xi went to the US was in 2023, his fifth visit as the Chinese president, where he met former president Joe Biden at a summit, resulting in agreements to resume military-to-military communications and curb fentanyl production.
Meanwhile, Trump reportedly spoke to the Chinese president on the day of his inauguration on January 20 where the two discussed issues including TikTok, trade and Taiwan.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he was talking to China about TikTok as the United States seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese parent firm ByteDance.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsTrump said last week he had spoken to Xi since taking office as well but did not offer details on the topics of that conversation. China’s foreign ministry did not directly comment on Trump’s remarks that day and instead referred reporters to their “scheduled” call before Trump took office.
WTO holds talks on US tariffs
The World Trade Organisation held “constructive” discussions on trade after Beijing accused Washington of imposing “tariff shocks” that could upend the global trading system.
The majority of the six countries that participated in the talks on trade turbulence, put on the agenda by China, raised concern about mounting tensions, but also called for restraint, said WTO spokesperson Ismaila Dieng in a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday.
“These ’tariff shocks’ heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession,” China’s ambassador to the WTO Li Chenggang said at a closed-door meeting of the global trade body on Tuesday, according to a statement sent to Reuters.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
