China says Trump and Xi talked on the phone, their first call since the tariff war began

President Trump has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, China said. It would be their first known call since Trump began his second term with a focus on higher tariffs on imports of Chinese goods.

China's ambassador to the United Nations first announced the talks ; the White House has not yet released a statement.

Trump's last known conversation with Xi was in January, before Inauguration Day, when the two leaders talked about a range of global issues including trade and the then-looming ban on TikTok.

At the time, Chinese goods entering the U.S. (and vice versa) faced an average customs levy of around 20%, most of which was a holdover from tariffs imposed during Trump's first term in office and which the Biden administration declined to roll back.

But by April,