---
title: "Trump and China's Xi will likely speak this week, White House says"
description: "WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will likely speak this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-06-02-trump-and-chinas-xi-will-likely-speak-this-week-white-house-says/"
published: "2025-06-02T21:05:15"
updated: "2025-06-02T21:05:17"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 289
---

# Trump and China's Xi will likely speak this week, White House says

> WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will likely speak this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.

By Reuters · Published 2 June 2025, 23:05 SAST · Updated 2 June 2025, 23:05 SAST

## Key points
- As the trade tango between Trump and Xi continues, with a promise of a phone call looming like a bad sequel, the only thing more uncertain than their chat is whether the tariffs will stay or go—much like our faith in the idea of a smooth diplomatic waltz.
- Leavitt, a key Trump aide, hints at an imminent call between Trump and Xi to resolve trade disagreements.
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent confirms discussions will occur "very soon" to tackle critical minerals and export restrictions.
- Recent U.S.-China tariff truce has sparked global stock rallies but failed to address deeper economic grievances.
- A U.S. trade court initially ruled Trump's tariffs were overreaching, but an appeals court reinstated them pending further review.

## Content

Leavitt is the third top Trump aide to forecast an imminent call between the two leaders to iron out differences on last month's tariff agreement in Geneva, among larger trade issues.

It was not immediately clear when the two leaders will speak.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott [Bessent](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS0N3RL03R&linkedFromStory=true) told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that Trump and Xi would speak "very soon" to iron out trade issues including a dispute over critical minerals and China's restrictions of exports of certain minerals.

Trump said on Friday he was sure that he would speak to Xi. China said in April that the two leaders had not had a conversation recently.

Bessent led negotiations with China in Geneva last month that resulted in a temporary truce in the trade war between the world's two biggest economies, but progress since then has been slow, the U.S. Treasury chief told Fox News last week.

The U.S.-China agreement to dial back triple-digit tariffs for 90 days prompted a massive relief rally in global stocks. But it did nothing to address the underlying reasons for Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods, mainly longstanding U.S. complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model, leaving those issues for future talks.

A U.S. trade court on Wednesday ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing the bulk of his tariffs on imports from China and other countries under an emergency powers act. But less than 24 hours later, a federal appeals court reinstated the tariffs, saying it was pausing the trade court ruling to consider the government's appeal. The appeals court ordered the plaintiffs to respond by June 5 and the administration to respond by June 9.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Doina Chiacu and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)