President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to speak this week, a senior White House official told CNBC on Monday.
The expected discussion follows a series of flare-ups between Washington and Beijing that threaten to derail a tentative trade agreement that the two economic superpowers reached just weeks earlier.
The two leaders could speak one-on-one “very soon,” though probably not today, the official said on condition of anonymity.
U.S. market indexes opened lower on Monday morning, as investors responded to the increasingly confrontational tone of public messages between the U.S. and China.
Trade between the countries — who rely heavily on each others’ business — was effectively crushed in April, when Trump ratcheted blanket tariffs on Chinese imports up to 145% and Beijing issued steep retaliatory duties. The two sides agreed to scale back most of those tariffs for 90 days following an initial round of trade negotiations in Switzerland in mid-May.
But each nation has since accused the other of undermining the agreements struck in Geneva.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has accused China of slow-walking renewed exports of critical minerals to the United States, while Beijing has called out Washington for issuing a warning against using Chinese chips.
On Monday, a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson accused the U.S. of trying to “unilaterally provoke new economic and trade frictions, increasing the uncertainty and instability in the bilateral economic and trade relations.”
Trump administration officials have acknowledged that progress in U.S.-China trade talks has slowed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that breaking the logjam will “require both leaders to weigh in with each other.”
But Trump has vented frustration with China as the roadblocks have emerged.
“China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday.
“So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!” he wrote.