TikTok, Trade, Taiwan Top Agenda For Call Between Trump, Xi

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have plenty to discuss this week in their first conversation since June, with TikTok, Boeing planes, rare earth magnets and Taiwan among top items for negotiation.

The leaders are set to speak in advance of a potential in-person summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea at the end of October, capping months of a low-boil tit-for-tat around tariffs, export restrictions and investment issues. Trump posted on Truth Social that he'd have a call with Xi on Friday, adding that "the relationship remains a very strong one!!!"

Beijing hasn't publicly confirmed or commented on the call. The foreign ministry on Tuesday said only that "head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic leading role" in ties between the world's largest economies.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met on Monday with Chinese officials in Madrid to hash out a framework to meet the latest sell-or-be-banned deadline for ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok app, helping keep plans on track for the top-level engagement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with their counterparts last week.

After months of "trade truce" extensions and lower-level talks, here's what's at stake for the Trump-Xi call and beyond:

Where does the US-China relationship stand under Trump's second term in office?

Trump continues to hail Xi as a strong leader he admires, and arguably has been ripping pages from Xi's playbook as the US looks to take government stakes in companies like Nvidia Corp. and Intel Corp. As he aims to secure an expansive deal with Xi, he's spared China secondary sanctions for its Russian oil purchases while penalizing India, punted on banning TikTok and spoken more positively on accepting Chinese students at American universities.

At the same time, Trump has targeted China alongside every other trading partner under a renewed "liberation" campaign that's meant to even up what the US sees as trade imbalances across the world.

The two nations have suspended the most extreme tariff measures against each other, which saw US levies on Chinese goods surge to as high as 145%, with the latest deadline looming in mid-November. One 20% tariff was applied as punishment for what Trump sees as inadequate Chinese crackdown on fentanyl trafficking that's devastated American communities and haunted successive administrations.

Both sides have recognized a need to keep stability in the relationship, though there's been plenty of grandstanding and disagreement around each superpower's influence with Global South countries and in conflicts that rage in Ukraine and the Middle East. 

What are some of the top priorities for the US and China on any trade deal?

Trump looks to keep up the trade pressure in his billing of a revival of the US economy that he says has turned on tariffs, which have surged to their highest level in more than a century. China, under some renewed domestic economic pressure, is seeking to remove those extra duties.

Topping the list for Trump is ensuring the flow of rare-earth magnets - a key ingredient for American manufacturing and a sensitive bargaining chip that China has tapped particularly in response to the successive tariff boosts. The two superpowers also have traded blows around semiconductors, with the US adding 32 companies to its entity list and China responding with fresh investigations of American-made chips.

Trump also has demanded a stronger crackdown on entities in China that facilitate the export or financing of fentanyl and related substances. It's a sensitive issue for China, too, as officials haven't taken kindly to the implication that they're abetting drug trade. 

What's more of the low-hanging fruit that either side could offer for a pact?

China could look to satisfy Trump's need for a big win with a series of pledges to purchase more American exports.

Chinese investment in the US would be viewed skeptically by hawks in Washington, which now applies heavy scrutiny to any such transactions. But a Chinese order for hundreds of Boeing Co. planes, which would benefit both Trump and Xi, is expected to be a centerpiece of any deal.

Soybeans are a frequent target and highly exposed to US-China trade talks. A Chinese move to curtail purchases from Brazil and instead shift to the US would be a boon for Trump's efforts to please American farmers and boost Chinese imports.

From the US side, a further softening in the people-to-people ties could go a long way to thawing relations. More moves to facilitate Chinese students in the US - especially amid a broader US crackdown on immigration - is one possible negotiating point. 

What are some other, perhaps stickier, items for negotiation?

Taiwan remains a major source of friction in the US-China relationship. Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated to the US last week that it should "exercise caution" over Taiwan, the self-ruled island China considers its territory. China could seek a reduction in arms sales or military trainers to Taiwan.

Trump's MAGA base is loath to get more deeply involved in counter-China operations in the Asia-Pacific, while allies including the Philippines have sought firmer military ties with the US amid an increase in South China Sea skirmishes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)