We’ve all heard former President Donald Trump’s lament about how hard it was to strike a trade deal with China’s President Xi Jinping. He stressed that getting an agreement will be “incredibly difficult.” Here’s what Trump had to say on Truth Social. He emphasized the delicate and often contradictory state of the current trade relationship that is developing between the U.S. and China.
In his statement, Trump acknowledged his long-standing respect for Xi, saying, “I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” His comments underscore the frustrating realities of U.S.-China relations, especially as the trade war continues to intensify in recent months.
Ambassador David Perdue echoed Trump’s feelings, emphasizing that the former president has “great respect” for Xi Jinping. While we salute this respect, the road ahead toward a successful negotiation is still riddled with challenges. The two leaders last spoke in January and since then our trade talks have gone largely stagnant.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted that trade negotiations between the two countries are “pretty much at a standstill.” This painful comment for both sides underscores the frustration that is developing on both ends. Meanwhile, the U.S. and China have been accusing each other of violating the terms of a trade truce that was set out on May 12. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in turn opened a blistering attack on the Trump administration. He criticised its “aggressive actions” against China, saying they were justified by “unfounded allegations.”
This is especially important in the context of the Trump administration’s recent order to revoke visas for some Chinese students. This highly controversial decision has drawn blaring denunciation from China. This move throws a whole new layer of stress onto an already fraught connection. Analysts suggest that any forthcoming call between Trump and Xi would require assurances from the U.S. to avoid unexpected developments during the conversation.
Neo Wang, lead China economist and strategist at Evercore ISI, believes that such a phone call is fast approaching. He underscored China’s likely willingness to participate. They’re looking for confidence enough that surprises won’t happen along the way for the duration of the negotiations.
Even with these continuing setbacks, dialogue continues to present hope. The U.S. has sought to limit China’s access to advanced technology while expressing disappointment over China’s failure to ease restrictions on rare earths exports, which Washington had anticipated would occur.
With both nations sailing through uncharted waters, the course of U.S.-China trade relations remains tenuous at best. The whole of the international community will be looking on with intense scrutiny. Instead, people are hoping for a breakthrough to be made or for tensions to continue to escalate.