US President Donald Trump is “likely” to speak to China’s President Xi Jinping this week, the White House said on Monday, amid renewed trade tensions between the two countries.
The prospect for such talks, mentioned to reporters by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, comes after China hit back at the United States over alleged violations of a temporary bilateral trade agreement reached in mid-May in Geneva.
China’s Commerce Ministry on Monday released a statement saying Trump’s accusation last week that Beijing had violated the agreement is “groundless” and “grossly distorts the facts”.
The ministry also criticised the Trump administration for introducing “discriminatory measures” against China, including issuing guidance on export controls of artificial intelligence chips and revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the United States.
Such comments were made after Trump lashed out at China on Friday for “totally” violating the agreement reached in high-level talks in the Swiss city, under which the two countries committed to backing away from their respective triple-digit tariffs and trade restrictions.
“I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation…Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual,” Trump said in a social media post.
