Trump is ‘obsessed’ about having a call with China’s Xi this week to hammer out trade deal, insiders reveal

A person familiar with the matter reportedly said the administration is “under a lot of pressure” following China’s critical minerals blockade

President Donald Trump has grown increasingly focused on calling Chinese President Xi Jinping this week to get closer to a deal to end the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The White House has said that Trump and Xi will “likely” speak this week. However, it may not be the barrier-breaking conversation the president is aiming for.

“The president is obsessed with having a call with Xi,” a person familiar with the talks told Politico.

Trump believes he can untie the knot even though the U.S. is trying to change a trade relationship worth $600 billion and doing so without losing too much political capital in the U.S.

The person familiar with the discussions told the outlet that the administration is “under a lot of pressure” following China’s critical minerals blockade, which blocks U.S. access to essential components in auto and electronics manufacturing as well as the production of munitions.

Trump believes a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping could spell the end of the trade war between the world’s largest economies (AP)

“I don’t think Xi is too interested in exporting any more rare earths or magnets to the United States; he’s made his position clear,” the person noted. But they added that Xi would likely take Trump's call.

“The president has some leverage, and the question is when he’s ready to impose maximum pressure on the Chinese government,” they said.

Meanwhile, a former Trump official who remains close to the White House told Politico that the president “feels like a call between principals is a way to cut through a lot of this noise, and get right to the heart of the matter.”

However, some observers think Trump will struggle to get Xi on the phone.

Obama’s assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Russel, told Politico that China “has a sharp nose for weakness, and for all his bravado, Trump is signaling eagerness, even desperation, to cut a direct deal with Xi.”

“That only stiffens Beijing’s resolve,” he added.

Beijing has reportedly also been disturbed by Trump’s very public showdowns with world leaders, such as with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. This has made the Chinese hesitant to participate in high-level discussions.

Biden National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan, Rush Doshi, told the outlet that China “sees President Trump as unpredictable, which poses risks reputationally for President Xi.”

“It’s not usual practice for PRC diplomats to put the leader at risk of a potentially embarrassing or unpredictable encounter,” he added.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Xi and Trump would “likely talk this week,” but a call has yet to be scheduled, a White House official told Politico. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, “I have no information to share” regarding a call.

Jamieson Greer has argued that China is slow walking the removal of some trade countermeasures (AP)

Last month, China and the U.S. reached an agreement to lower U.S. tariffs from 145 to 30 percent. Beijing cut back on levies on imports from the U.S. to 10 percent, and they said they would remove barriers on the exports of essential minerals. The agreement included a 90-day deadline to begin fresh discussions on a wider trade deal to take into account U.S. concerns regarding Chinese trade practices.

However, these new talks have gotten off to a bad start with miscommunication and differing expectations. The Trump administration has argued that China has slowed its new shipments of critical minerals and rare earth magnets.

Appearing on CNBC on Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said: “When they agreed in Geneva to remove their tariff and their countermeasures, they removed the tariff like we did. But some of the countermeasures, they’ve slowed on.”

While a business official told Politico that “Everyone agrees that for any additional progress to happen on tariffs, the gateway is fentanyl,” the U.S. hasn’t responded to two proposals put forward by Beijing to deal with the issue.

The proposals have been described as being designed by Beijing to provoke talks about what the Chinese can do to stop the flow of components that Mexican cartels use to make the drug. However, many officials in the Trump administration don’t believe China would actually take the steps required to adhere to any fentanyl agreement.

Former Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush assistant U.S. trade representative Harry Broadman told Politico that while “Trump is a deal maker,” Xi is not.

“He’s a Party guy at the top of an administrative superstructure,” he said. “I cannot imagine that Xi would get into specifics — at most, they might agree on certain principles, but that’s not likely to satisfy Trump.”