Trump and Xi are set to discuss the TikTok deal and future of US-China
relations
[September 19, 2025] By
DIDI TANG
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to talk 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 also may offer clues about whether the two leaders might meet
in person to hash out a final agreement to end their trade war and
provide clarity on where relations between the world's two superpowers
may be headed.
It would be the second call with Xi since Trump returned to the White
House and launched sky-high tariffs on China, triggering back-and-forth
trade restrictions that strained ties between the two largest economies.
But Trump has expressed willingness to negotiate trade deals with
Beijing, notably for the social video platform that faces a U.S. ban
unless its Chinese parent company sells its controlling stake.
Another call for Trump and Xi over trade 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 trade,” Trump said Thursday. “And we’re very close
to deals on all of it.”
He said 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 the call or
any upcoming summit between the leaders, but spokesperson Liu Pengyu
said “heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing
strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations.”
Sun Yun, director of the China program 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 trade deal and what can be achieved for
both sides from the summit,” Sun said.
Efforts to finalize the TikTok deal
Following a U.S.-China trade meeting earlier this week in Madrid, U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 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, has
extended a deadline several times 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 data privacy and national security concerns.
Trump said TikTok “has tremendous value” and the U.S. “has that value in
its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it.”
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President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi
Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in
Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
 U.S. officials have been concerned
about ByteDance’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China
that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the
government. Another concern is the proprietary algorithm that
populates what users see on TikTok.
Chinese officials said 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 data and content security.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat on the House Select
Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, says TikTok's data and
algorithm must be “truly in American hands” to comply with the law.
More trade issues on the table
Top U.S. and Chinese officials have held four rounds of trade 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 many issues remain unresolved.
Trump in the call “will likely seek to make it appear that the
United States has the upper hand in trade negotiations,” said Ali
Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser on U.S.-China issues at
the International Crisis Group.
Xi “will 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 said.
No deals have been announced on tech export restrictions, Chinese
purchases of U.S. agricultural products or fentanyl. The Trump
administration has imposed additional 20% tariffs on Chinese goods
linked to allegations that Beijing has failed to stem the flow to
the U.S. of the chemicals used to make opioids.
Trump’s second-term trade war with Beijing has cost U.S. farmers one
of their top markets. From January through July, American farm
exports to China fell 53% compared with the same period last year.
The damage was even greater in some commodities: U.S. sorghum sales
to China, for instance, were down 97%.
Josh Gackle, chairman of the American Soybean Association, said 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 said. “I think there’s frustration growing
at the farmer level that they haven’t been able to reach a deal
yet.”
___
Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Paul Wiseman contributed to
the report.
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