US President Donald Trump expects Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit US, says new trade deal ‘is possible’

Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh
Reuters
Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last spoke just before Trump took office on January 20 (AP PHOTO)
Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last spoke just before Trump took office on January 20 (AP PHOTO) Credit: AAP

US President Donald Trump says he expects Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the United States without giving a timeline for his trip.

Mr Trump made the remarks to reporters on Air Force One and said “it’s possible” for the US and China to have a new trade deal. A conversation or interaction between Xi and Trump is seen as crucial to a potential easing or delay of trade tariffs.

“We’ll have, ultimately, President Xi, we will have everybody coming (to the US),” Mr Trump said while also speaking about others leaders visiting the United States.

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Mr Xi last travelled to the US in November 2023, in his fifth visit to the country as Chinese president, for a summit with then US President Joe Biden, resulting in agreements to resume military-to-military communications and curb fentanyl production.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi had spoken just before Mr Trump took office on January 20 and discussed issues including TikTok, trade and Taiwan.

Mr 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.

Mr Trump said last week he had spoken to Mr 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 Mr Trump’s remarks that day and instead referred reporters to their “scheduled” call before Trump took office.

Washington and Beijing have had tense relations for years over differences ranging from trade tariffs and cybersecurity to TikTok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, human rights and the origins of COVID-19.

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