Trump could announce more tariffs on major trading partners today

Trump says he has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping since his inauguration, though neither the U.S. nor China has reported any calls between the two leaders during that period.

Asked in a Fox News interview whether he had spoken with Xi since the Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump said, “Yeah, and I’ve talked to him, and I talked to his people too. His people come in all the time,” without specifying when a call had taken place or what was discussed.

Asked about Trump’s comments at a regular briefing in Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Xi and Trump had a scheduled phone call on Jan. 17, before the inauguration, and that China had “issued a relevant press release.”

Trump said last week that he was in “no rush” to speak with Xi amid fears of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Beijing announced tariffs of 10% to 15% on some U.S. products last week, minutes after a 10% U.S. tariff on all Chinese goods imports went into effect.