White House Says Trump And President Xi May Talk This Week

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are likely to speak this week, White House press secretary Krypto Leavitt said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating an agreement to lift trade rates and restrictions.

Leavitt is Trump's third aide to predict an immediate phone call between the two leaders to resolve differences in last month's tariff agreement in Geneva, among the bigger trade issues.

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

Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday Trump and Xi will speak "immediately" to resolve trading issues including disputes over important minerals and Chinese restrictions on certain mineral exports.

President Trump himself on Friday said he was confident he would speak with President Xi. Meanwhile, the Bamboo Curtain Country said in April the two leaders had not had any recent conversations.

On Saturday, the US Commerce Office announced it would continue to exclude certain solar manufacturing equipment and other products from tariffs applicable to Chinese goods until August 31, offering a three-month extension while talks with Beijing continue.

Minister of Finance Bessent led negotiations with China in Geneva last month resulting in a temporary ceasefire in a trade war between the world's two largest economies, but progress has since been slow.

The US-China agreement to reduce the rate of three digits over 90 days prompted a massive rally in global stocks. But it did nothing to address Trump's fundamental reasons for the Trump tariff on Chinese goods, especially the US's longstanding complaint about China's economic models being dominated by the state and driven by exports, so the issue should be discussed in the future.

Separately, a US trade court on Wednesday ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority in imposing most of its rates on imports from China and other countries under emergency power laws.

However, less than 24 hours later, a federal appeals court reimposed the tariff, saying the court was temporarily suspending a trade court ruling to consider the government's appeal. The appeals court ordered the plaintiff to respond no later than June 5 and the government to respond no later than June 9.