Beijing and Washington have contradicted each other about whether President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have spoken in recent weeks regarding the newly placed tariffs.

The president has said they’ve been in communication to discuss the back-and-forth tariffs that rocked the global markets, while the Chinese have maintained the two have not been in touch. Their last reported conversation was from days before Trump’s second inauguration.

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“As far as I know, there has been no recent phone call between the two heads of state,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference. “I want to reiterate that China and the United States are not engaged in consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged on Sunday that he was unaware of any recent trade talks between the leaders.

“I had interaction with my Chinese counterpart, but it was more of the traditional things like financial stability, global economic early warnings. I don’t know if President Trump has spoken with President Xi,” he said on Sunday, adding that China’s denials of such talks likely result from “playing to a different audience.”

On Monday, Bessent said the U.S. is “continuing to make substantive movement on negotiations with many of our trading partners,” adding that the negotiations with Asian countries “are going very well.”

Trump said Xi “called [him]” in his interview with Time Magazine, published last week. “And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.”

He declined to provide additional details when asked on Friday.

STATES SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO STOP TARIFFS

Trump enacted sweeping tariffs on dozens of nations earlier this month, placing a universal 10% tariff rate on most goods imported into the U.S. Additional tariffs vary by country. China was slapped with rates as high as 145%. 

Most of these tariffs have yet to be implemented, as Trump announced a 90-day pause to give countries more time to make a deal with Washington for potentially lower rates. The tariffs have sent waves of uncertainty throughout the global economy, as many fear the downstream effects of the high rates.