Why Xi Isn’t in a Hurry to Get Trump on the Phone
China’s President Xi Jinping during a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024.
Photographer: Ton Molina/BloombergHi, this is John Liu in Beijing, where many of the fireworks I saw this past Lunar New Year holiday were set off by President Donald Trump.
Making good on his earlier promise, Trump signed an executive order last weekend putting 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on those from China. But before the levies kicked in, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum each rung Trump by phone and secured a one-month reprieve.
At the same time, Trump hinted that he’d be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping very soon. As the hours ticked by and the tariff deadline came and went, no call ever happened. Instead, Trump later said there was no rush and that he’d speak with Xi at an appropriate time.