Chinese residents hope long-term solutions to trade spat after Xi-Trump call

NEW YORK: Chinese residents on Friday (June 6) expressed cautious optimism following a phone call between President Xi Jinping and former U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for mutual respect and renewed dialogue amid ongoing trade tensions.

AI Brief

Xi and Trump discussed trade and rare earth tensions in a rare direct call.
China urged the US to lift tariffs, visa limits, and avoid provoking over Taiwan.
Trump called the call "positive" and announced more detailed follow-up talks.

While some residents in Shanghai hoped for a "peaceful", fast solution to the current trade spat, Beijing resident Tang Qi urged Washington to show goodwill by rolling back tariffs and student visa restrictions.

“China has already demonstrated goodwill,” said 38-year-old Tang.

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."