Associated Press | Ng Han Guan
Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday amid ongoing tensions and stalled negotiations between the two countries over tariffs.
“I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal. The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,” Trump said on Truth Social.
He added that U.S. and Chinese officials will meet “shortly” and that Xi invited him and first lady Melania Trump to visit China, while he invited Xi to the U.S. The U.S. is in a fragile truce with its top trading partner after officials hashed out an agreement with China last month to lower the tariff rate on imports from 145 percent to 30 percent. Beijing also lowered its rate on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.
Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by a record amount in April ahead of the implementation of Trump’s tariffs, according to a Thursday release from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The trade deficit — a measure of U.S. goods imports — fell to $61.6 billion in April, a 55.5 percent drop from March.
Americans bought fewer foreign pharmaceuticals, cellphones and cars, and they cut purchases of machinery and other supplies.