An array of charges and countercharges over the weekend between the US and China raised the stakes of a long-awaited call between leaders of the two countries as relations hit new turbulence over tariffs and other issues.
US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have significant issues to iron out, from critical minerals to semiconductors. That has led to increasingly hostile commentary from both sides, putting last month's agreement to lower tariffs for 90 days in a tenuous position.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett even suggested Sunday on ABC that trade negotiations with other nations are being held up by the wait for this call between Trump and Xi.
He explained why his previous predictions of deals have failed to materialize, saying it's because “the trade team has been focused 100% like a laser beam on the China matter.” Once a call resolves the China issues, he added, “then we're going to take [other] deals into the Oval.”
But it's far from unclear whether a call between the two leaders — who apparently have not spoken since before Trump's inauguration — can resolve the growing issues. The uncertainty is more pronounced by weeks of promises that a call is in the offing, with still no clarity on when it will even take place.
A range of Trump officials were pressed on the call over the weekend and offered new uncertainty.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed a hope on CBS for “something very soon” while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promised on Fox that Trump is “going to go work work it out” without offering a timeline.
Hassett added he was hoping for a call this week but “you never know in international relations.”
Whenever the call takes place, the countries will have a series of thorny issues to discuss with a dispute over critical minerals perhaps the most front and center.
What Trump and his team are charging is that China has already violated the 90-day trade truce by not loosening trade restrictions for these critical building blocks in everything from computers to electric vehicle batteries to jet engines to medical devices.
China holds a dominant position in the world's reserves of many of these key minerals — as well as in the capacity to refine them.
Bessent added on CBS that China is “holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe, and that is not what a reliable partner does.”
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reacted Monday morning to the weekend's charges by denying the Trump administration's claims and accusing the US of its own actions to undermine the deal.
