Analyst says Trump-Xi call 'momentary breath' but improvement in trade ties remains to be seen

TAIPEI: An analyst on Friday (June 6) said the rare leader-to-leader call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was a momentary respite from "Alice in Wonderland levels of ridiculousness" over the past few months, but that it remains to be seen if trade ties between the countries improve.

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Trump and Xi discussed easing trade and critical minerals tensions.
Xi warned Trump against Taiwan threats and harsh trade moves.
Both leaders agreed to continue talks and invited each other to visit.

"And I think it is in the plan and in the strategy for both sides that they need a deal. It can't continue like it has been," said Kent Kedl, founder and managing partner at Shanghai-based risk and strategy advisory firm Blue Ocean Advisors.

"What I would consider a win in a major step is, for the next 60 days, we don't have a major blow up," Kedl added.

Trump and Xi confronted weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals in a rare leader-to-leader call on Thursday (June 5) that left key issues to further talks. According to a Chinese government summary of the call, Xi told Trump to back down from trade measures that roiled the global economy and warned him against threatening steps on Taiwan.

But Trump later said via social media that the talks focused primarily on trade led to "a very positive conclusion," announcing further lower-level U.S.-China discussions, and that "there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products."

The leaders also invited each other to visit their respective countries.

Stocks in Asia offered muted responses on Friday.