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 has repeatedly urged Xi to call him for discussions about a potential trade deal after slapping 145% tariffs on most Chinese goods as part of his "Liberation Day" salvo on April 2. But any off-ramp to the economic tensions will likely run through He, who is Xi's Sino-American trade tsar.