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Trump, Xi Set to Discuss Future Ties 09/19 06:17
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to talk with Chinese leader Xi
Jinping on Friday in a push to finalize a deal to allow the popular social
media app TikTok to keep operating in the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to talk with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday in a push to finalize a deal to allow the
popular social media app TikTok to keep operating in the United States.
The call also may offer clues about whether the two leaders might meet in
person to hash out a final agreement to end their trade war and provide clarity
on where relations between the world's two superpowers may be headed.
It would be the second call with Xi since Trump returned to the White House
and launched sky-high tariffs on China, triggering back-and-forth trade
restrictions that strained ties between the two largest economies. But Trump
has expressed willingness to negotiate trade deals with Beijing, notably for
the social video platform that faces a U.S. ban unless its Chinese parent
company sells its controlling stake.
Another call for Trump and Xi over trade tensions
The two men also spoke in June to defuse tensions over China's restrictions
on the export of rare earth elements, used in everything from smartphones to
fighter jets.
"I'm speaking with President Xi, as you know, on Friday, having to do with
TikTok and also trade," Trump said Thursday. "And we're very close to deals on
all of it."
He said his relationship with China is "very good" but noted that Russia's
war in Ukraine could end if European countries put higher tariffs on China.
Trump didn't say if he planned to raise tariffs on Beijing over its purchase of
Moscow's oil, as he has done with India.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington on Thursday didn't confirm the call or any
upcoming summit between the leaders, but spokesperson Liu Pengyu said
"heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic
guidance for China-U.S. relations."
Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank
Stimson Center, predicted a positive discussion.
"Both sides have strong desire for the leadership summit to happen, while
the details lie in the trade deal and what can be achieved for both sides from
the summit," Sun said.
Efforts to finalize the TikTok deal
Following a U.S.-China trade meeting earlier this week in Madrid, U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sides reached a framework deal on
TikTok's ownership but Trump and Xi likely would finalize it Friday.
Trump, who has credited the app with helping him win another term, has
extended a deadline several times for the app to be spun off from its Chinese
parent company ByteDance. It is a requirement to allow TikTok to keep operating
in the U.S. under a law passed last year seeking to address data privacy and
national security concerns.
Trump said TikTok "has tremendous value" and the U.S. "has that value in its
hand because we're the ones that have to approve it."
U.S. officials have been concerned about ByteDance's roots and ownership,
pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data
requested by the government. Another concern is the proprietary algorithm that
populates what users see on TikTok.
Chinese officials said Monday that a consensus was reached on authorization
of the "use of intellectual property rights," including the algorithm, and that
the two sides agreed on entrusting a partner with handling U.S. user data and
content security.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee
on the Chinese Communist Party, says TikTok's data and algorithm must be "truly
in American hands" to comply with the law.
More trade issues on the table
Top U.S. and Chinese officials have held four rounds of trade talks between
May and September, with another likely in the coming weeks. Both sides have
paused sky-high tariffs and pulled back from harsh export controls, but many
issues remain unresolved.
Trump in the call "will likely seek to make it appear that the United States
has the upper hand in trade negotiations," said Ali Wyne, senior research and
advocacy adviser on U.S.-China issues at the International Crisis Group.
Xi "will likely seek to underscore China's economic leverage and warn that
continued progress in bilateral relations will hinge on an easing of U.S.
tariffs, sanctions and export controls," Wyne said.
No deals have been announced on tech export restrictions, Chinese purchases
of U.S. agricultural products or fentanyl. The Trump administration has imposed
additional 20% tariffs on Chinese goods linked to allegations that Beijing has
failed to stem the flow to the U.S. of the chemicals used to make opioids.
Trump's second-term trade war with Beijing has cost U.S. farmers one of
their top markets. From January through July, American farm exports to China
fell 53% compared with the same period last year. The damage was even greater
in some commodities: U.S. sorghum sales to China, for instance, were down 97%.
Josh Gackle, chairman of the American Soybean Association, said he would be
following the outcome of Friday's call because China, the biggest foreign buyer
of U.S. beans, has paused purchases for this year's new crop.
"There's still time. It's encouraging that the two countries continue to
talk," Gackle said. "I think there's frustration growing at the farmer level
that they haven't been able to reach a deal yet."
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