Donald Trump wants Xi Jinping to call him first before discussing trade tariffs: CNN

The United States and China are apparently playing a massive game of “No, you call first”.

This is according to CNN in an Apr. 11 piece that quoted unnamed official sources in the White House to shed light on the power play in the biggest behind-the-scenes game of political chess being played.

Here's what was revealed.

U.S. warned China not to hit back with retaliatory tariffs, which went unheeded

The Trump administration purportedly warned Chinese officials in private discussions against announcing new retaliatory tariffs after the U.S. slapped 145 per cent tariffs on China.

Just hours later, China clapped back at the U.S. with a 125 per cent tariff on American goods, which was not expected.

To top it off, the Chinese did not offer to set up a call between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

Beijing told to set up call with Trump over past 2 months

More than one senior White House official also told CNN that the U.S. will not reach out to China first.

Trump's stance, it was reported, was that China must make the first move.

This was so as the White House believes that the Chinese leadership chose to retaliate and escalate the trade war.

The need for the Chinese to reach out to the Americans was apparently conveyed to Beijing for roughly two months.

Trump’s team were "clearly telling" Chinese officials that Trump should be approached by Xi for a call, CNN reported.

But Beijing has repeatedly refused, according to three sources familiar with the official communications.

The Americans are of the view that China relies on strict protocol and badly wants to prepare Xi for any call that is this important and significant.

Such an approach is greatly at odds with how Trump does business, it was reported.

At the same time, Trump’s team also believes Xi’s desire was not to be seen as weak by making the first move.

Subsequently, Xi said during his meeting with the Spanish prime minister, state broadcaster CCTV reported: “For over 70 years, China’s development has relied on self-reliance and hard work — never on handouts from others, and it is not afraid of any unjust suppression.”

Trump has suggested Beijing would come around, as he envisions a grand deal with China.

He has said he feels that the Chinese just do not know how to go about it.

“China wants to make a deal. They just don’t know how quite to go about it,” Trump said on Apr. 9 at the White House.

“You know, it’s one of those things they don’t know quite – They’re proud people.”

Channels of communication between US & China exist

Behind the scenes, official channels at the working level are active, even though high-level dialogue is missing.

Meanwhile, unofficial channels have proven unproductive.

The Chinese had tried to gain access to the Trump administration via Tesla CEO Elon Musk or another back channel, but have been unsuccessful.

The Trump administration has balked at China’s foreign minister Wang Yi serving as the interlocutor, suggesting that Wang was not close enough to Xi’s inner circle.

The Trump White House has put forth some specific names, it was reported, but China won’t budge.

So far, only some communication between the sides has been brokered by China’s ambassador to the United States.

Two senior White House officials told CNN that Trump would be happy for communication to begin below the leader-level, as long as it brought results.

The U.S. also reportedly sees the ball in China's court.

China, on the other hand, wants to ensure they are not sending Xi for an ambush, a la the one Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky received in the Oval Office.

What else we know

Meetings between the leaders of the two largest superpowers have usually occurred under specific circumstances in recent years, such as during the 2023 APEC meeting in San Francisco or the G20 meeting in Bali in 2022.

However, there is little to indicate that China does not know how to initiate contact, but both sides are only willing to communicate directly under circumstances of their own choosing.

Reuters reported that China’s foreign minister Wang had made several attempts to meet with his counterpart Marco Rubio, as well as other Trump administration officials, notably when he was in New York on United Nations-related business.

But Wang has thus far been rebuffed.

Communications between China and the U.S. had, until Trump’s reelection, been very gradually thawing since they were all but frozen after then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan despite China’s protest.

Relations had warmed to the point where Wang had been able to meet Biden-era national security advisor Jake Sullivan.

An expert that Reuters spoke to said the manner in which the Trump administration has tried to reach out to China “totally doesn’t work” in China’s policy-making system.

An economist that Reuters also interviewed suggested that the experiences of other countries who have tried to negotiate with the Trump administration would have dissuaded China.

Trump mockingly said countries were “calling us up, kissing my ass” and were “dying to make a deal” during a National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner on Apr. 8.

This is unlikely to convince China to pick up the phone.

Top image via Unsplash, Donald Trump/Facebook, China Ministry of Foreign Affairs/X