(MENAFN) US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled for a phone call this Friday with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng to address trade issues between the world’s two largest economies, a senior official from the Trump administration told media.

Details such as the exact timing of the call and any potential follow-up actions remain unclear. However, this conversation may signal a possible thaw in US-China trade relations, which recently soured after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a sweeping 100% tariff on Chinese imports in retaliation to Beijing’s tightened export restrictions.

On October 10, China escalated its rare earth export controls by including minerals intended for military use—a first in its trade policy.

Following Trump’s tariff threat, he later appeared to backtrack, reassuring, "Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!"

Nevertheless, on Tuesday, Trump condemned China’s decision to halt purchases of US soybeans as “an economically hostile act.”

"We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution," Trump posted on his Truth Social account. "As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China."

In a Thursday interview with media, when asked whether the proposed 100% tariff was sustainable, Trump responded: “It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is.”

He added, “It’s probably not, you know, it could stand, but they forced me to do that,” before concluding, “I think we’re going to do fine with China.”

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