Phone Call Appears to Have Taken Place Around 8 a.m.
As the tariff war between the United States and China continues, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call on the 19th (local time), their first conversation in over three months.
China's People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency briefly reported that "President Xi spoke with President Trump by phone" on this day. NBC in the United States also reported that a White House official confirmed the call began at 8 a.m. that day.
This phone call followed the high-level U.S.-China trade negotiations held in Madrid, Spain, on the 14th and 15th, where a broad agreement was reached on how to handle the U.S. operations of the Chinese video platform TikTok. In an interview with Fox News the previous day, President Trump stated, "An agreement is imminent on almost every part," and added, "It appears that China has approved TikTok."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant indicated after the negotiations on the 15th that a basic framework for a deal regarding TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, had been established, suggesting significant progress. However, specific details were not released. It was also reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had contacted their Chinese counterparts last week.
In addition, issues such as tariffs, export controls on rare earths and semiconductors, and China's purchase of U.S. soybeans are expected to be major agenda items. Bloomberg News pointed out that the two countries have been engaged in a standoff for several months over tariffs, export restrictions, and investment issues.
President Trump also raised expectations for a U.S.-China summit, stating via the social networking service Truth Social that U.S.-China relations remain "very strong." This added weight to speculation that the leaders of both countries might meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will be held in Gyeongju, South Korea, for two days starting October 31. There was also cautious speculation about the possibility of President Trump visiting Beijing around that time.
The last time the two leaders spoke by phone was in June. At that time, President Trump stated, "(President Xi) requested a visit to China, and I responded positively." President Trump also spoke with President Xi by phone just before his inauguration in January.
The Washington Post reported, "As President Xi accelerates efforts to strengthen his position as a global statesman and President Trump changes the way Washington projects power on a generational level, the relationship between the two leaders could shape the international order for decades to come."
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