Trump and Xi begin talks in a push to finalize a TikTok deal

WASHINGTON AP U S President Donald Trump is talking 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 between the two leaders began around a m Washington time according to a White House official and China s Xinhua News Agency The call may offer clues about whether the two leaders might meet in person to hash out a final agreement to end their agreement war and provide clarity on where relations between the world s two superpowers may be headed This is the second call with Xi since Trump returned to the White House and launched sky-high tariffs on China triggering back-and-forth contract restrictions that strained ties between the two largest economies But Trump a Republican has expressed willingness to negotiate arrangement deals with Beijing notably for TikTok which faces a U S ban unless its Chinese parent company sells its controlling stake Another call for Trump and Xi over pact 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 exchange Trump declared Thursday And we re very close to deals on all of it He mentioned 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 any upcoming summit between the leaders but spokesperson Liu Pengyu noted heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-U S relations Sun Yun director of the China activity 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 business deal and what can be achieved for both sides from the summit Sun commented Efforts to finalize the TikTok deal Following a U S -China agreement meeting earlier this week in Madrid U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned 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 several times has extended a deadline 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 information privacy and national precaution concerns Trump announced 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 leaders have been concerned about ByteDance s roots and ownership pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over material requested by the ruling body Another concern is the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on TikTok Chinese authorities announced 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 facts and content defense Rep Raja Krishnamoorthi the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party says TikTok s records and algorithm must be truly in American hands to comply with the law More pact issues on the table Top U S and Chinese functionaries have held four rounds of bargain 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 countless issues remain unresolved Trump in the call would likely seek to make it appear that the United States has the upper hand in deal negotiations declared Ali Wyne senior research and advocacy adviser on U S -China issues at the International Problem Group Xi would 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 revealed No deals have been reported on tech export restrictions Chinese purchases of U S agricultural products or fentanyl The Trump administration has imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods linked to statements that Beijing has failed to stem the flow to the U S of the chemicals used to make opioids Trump s second-term transaction war with Beijing has cost U S farmers one of their top markets From January through July American farm exports to China fell compared with the same period last year The damage was even greater in specific commodities U S sorghum sales to China for instance were down Josh Gackle chairman of the American Soybean Association declared 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 disclosed I think there s frustration growing at the farmer level that they haven t been able to reach a deal yet