Trump has held up tariffs as a negotiating tool with China and claimed talks are ongoing, but Beijing says so far there have not been any negotiations.

The Treasury secretary said that the President Trump and Xi Jinping of China have a good relationship but that he was not aware of a call, which Mr. Trump had alluded to last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is talking with China to strike a tariff deal and that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him, according to a Time magazine interview published on Friday as Beijing continues to dispute U.