Trump to Speak With China’s Xi in Days, White House Says

President Donald Trump speaks to journalists in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Jan. 30, 2025. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump will speak with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the next few days, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Feb. 3.

The call arrangement was announced shortly after the United States escalated tariffs on China, citing concerns about the influx of fentanyl-related chemicals from the country.

Leavitt said in the news briefing that it would happen “in the next couple of days.” Few details are available regarding the call.

On Feb. 1, Trump signed several orders to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports, along with a 25 percent levy on Mexico and Canada, an act the White House said was necessary to hold the countries “accountable for their promises to halt the flood of poisonous drugs into the United States.”

The president on Feb. 3 defended the orders, pointing to Colombia as an example of the effectiveness of tariffs as a negotiation tool. The Colombian authorities had initially refused to accept U.S. military deportation flights but backed down under the threat of tariffs and sanctions on the country.

Without tariffs, Trump said, the two countries wouldn’t have reached a solution so quickly.

“Tariffs are very powerful, both economically and in getting everything else you want,” he said.

Canada has conceded as well. On Feb. 3, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked with Trump and agreed to implement a $1.3 billion plan to reinforce the border while stopping the fentanyl flow. Trudeau said Canada would appoint a fentanyl czar and label cartels as terrorists, ensure “24/7 eyes on the border,” and launch a joint strike force with the United States to combat organized crime, fentanyl, and money laundering.

The Chinese commerce ministry on Feb. 2 said it will file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization as part of its response in order to “safeguard its rights and interests,” and the country’s ministry of foreign affairs said the United States needs to “solve its own fentanyl issue.”

On Feb 3, China’s U.N. envoy suggested a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at an upcoming United Nations Security Council meeting in two weeks, stressing the need for cooperation because “so much is at stake.”

Trump held a call with Xi on Jan. 17, ahead of his inauguration. He said later that Xi had initiated the call.

“All we want is fairness. We just want a level playing field,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum. He noted the $1.1 trillion deficit with China, calling it “ridiculous.”

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino (C) and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrive for a meeting at the presidential palace in Panama City on Feb. 2, 2025. Mark Schiefelbein, Pool/AP Photo

Washington has repeatedly cited a need to counter Chinese influence in protecting U.S. interests.

Rubio made Panama the first stop on his week-long trip to Latin America. He pressed the country to mitigate the Chinese presence at the Panama Canal, which he said had violated a 1977 neutrality treaty that guaranteed the strategic waterway to be open to all countries.

While Panama wouldn’t give up the canal, the canal authority said late on Feb. 2 that it will “optimize transit priority of U.S. Navy vessels through the Panama Canal.”

The country’s president, José Raúl Mulino, also promised not to renew its participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-led global infrastructure project. U.S. officials have welcomed the step. Trump said he’s still not fully satisfied.

Trump said in the Feb. 3 briefing that he will talk with Panama’s leader by phone on Friday afternoon.