Trump, Xi Plan Friday Call on TikTok, Tariffs Amid Trade Truce

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to speak by phone Friday at 9 a.m. Washington time, marking their first direct engagement since June. The call is expected to focus on trade tensions, a temporary 90-day tariff truce, and the future of TikTok's U.S. operations, with a proposed deal to transfer control from ByteDance to a consortium led by Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake. Trump has expressed confidence that a deal regarding TikTok is nearly finalized, emphasizing that the company will be controlled by American investors, while Chinese state media highlights a consensus for continued operation of Chinese enterprises like TikTok in the U.S. Broader issues such as tariffs and technology access will also be discussed, though analysts anticipate limited agreements on these complex topics. The conversation reflects ongoing friction, especially concerning high-tech exports and rare-earth supply chains, which are unlikely to be resolved soon, adding longer-term uncertainty to U.S.-China relations.