Dear Focus Reader,

This week, Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump held their first phone call since January. The 90-minute conversation on Thursday focused almost exclusively on trade, with Trump calling it a "very good" exchange and Xi urging the U.S. to remove "negative measures" in the spirit of equality and mutual respect.

The call appears to have revived momentum for economic talks that had stalled after the Geneva consensus last month. Trump said discussions on rare earth mineral restrictions, critical to both consumer tech and defense systems, were productive and that meetings between economic teams would resume soon. Xi, in turn, invited Trump to visit China, and Trump reciprocated the gesture.

But the call did little to paper over deepening distrust. Trump has accused China of breaching the 90-day trade truce, while Beijing contends the U.S. has moved the goalposts, most recently by tightening controls on Chinese AI firms and threatening new tariffs.

That tension was on quiet display at last weekend's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where China notably scaled back its presence. Instead of sending Defense Minister Dong Jun, Beijing dispatched a delegation of military academics who declined to hold bilateral meetings or press briefings. In a lone panel appearance, PLA Major General Hu Gangfeng rejected U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's warnings about China as "groundless accusations," but otherwise struck a low profile.

Following recent dialogue, the White House announced Friday that senior U.S. officials will travel to London next week for the next round of trade negotiations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will lead the American side. Trump said he expected the talks to "go very well," though neither side has indicated what compromises, if any, might be on the table.Learn more on international relations by catching up on our latest Focus content, including topics on ASEAN's global role, economic impacts from Trump's tariffs, and more.