Trump announces US-China trade talks in London on June 9; Bessent, Lutnick, Greer to lead American delegation

US President Donald Trump on Friday named Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer as the officials leading the American delegation that will meet Chinese representatives in London on June 9 to discuss the ongoing trade negotiations.

“I am pleased to announce that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, will be meeting in London on Monday, June 9, 2025, with Representatives of China, with reference to the Trade Deal. The meeting should go very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump’s Truth Social post read.

This follows the much-anticipated telephonic conversation between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, in which both sides agreed to talks to prevent an all-out trade war over tariffs and global rare earth supplies.

Trump said the call reached a "very positive conclusion" and that they agreed to meet in person -- but Beijing issued a more muted readout saying that Xi spoke of a need to "correct the course" of ties.

The call -- the first to be publicly announced since Trump returned to power in January -- comes after Beijing and Washington accused each other of jeopardizing a trade war truce agreed last month in Geneva.

"The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries," Trump said on Truth Social.

"President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated. As Presidents of two Great Nations, this is something that we both look forward to doing," he added.

Relations between superpower rivals Beijing and Washington have been fraught since April, when Trump introduced sweeping worldwide tariffs that targeted China most heavily.

At one point the United States hit China with additional levies of 145 percent on its goods as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation. China's countermeasures on US goods reached 125 percent.

Trump had described Xi as recently as Wednesday as "extremely hard to make a deal with."

Chinese state media said Trump had requested the call. There was no immediate confirmation from the White House.