Amid tariff war, Xi, Trump hold a ‘positive phone conversation’

BEIJING: US President Donald Trump has hailed positive talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and Beijing described their phone conversation as “extremely positive”, triggering speculation about progress in settling an escalating tariff war.

Trump tweeted that he had held positive talks with Xi, a rare sign of hope in the months-long standoff between the world’s top two economies. “Just had a long and very good conversation with President Xi Jinping of China. We talked about many subjects, with a heavy emphasis on Trade,” he wrote. He added trade talks were “moving along nicely” and meetings were “being scheduled” at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires at the end of the month. Xi and Trump agreed to “strengthen economic exchanges”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. “I agree, this phone conversation was an extremely positive phone conversation.”

Trump has imposed penalty tariffs of up to 25% on $250 billion of Chinese goods in a dispute over Beijing’s plans for state-led development of technology industries. US, Europe and other trading partners say those violate China’s market-opening obligations and some American officials worry they might erode US industrial leadership.

“Both leaders attach great importance to economic ties,” Lu said. “President Xi Jinping also stressed that trade has long been serving as ballast and a stabiliser for China-us relations”. The two leaders agreed the trade dispute “should be handled properly through substantial consultation”. The comment comes days after Trump warned he’d impose tariffs on all China’s shipments to the US before saying he thought he could “make a great deal with China” but it was not yet ready.