The video call is taking place amid tensions between the world’s two largest economies and after President Donald Trump commented that a trade agreement with China was likely.

Washington applied 10 percent tariffs on all products from China. China’s response was “an eye for an eye” and implemented additional tariffs on products imported from the United States.

“There are no winners in a trade war,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, a position that Chinese President Xi Jinping himself expressed to the current chief of the White House during a telephone conversation last month.

Tariffs of 15 percent on coal and liquefied natural gas have been in place since February 10, while crude oil, agricultural machinery and other products will be subject to an additional 10 percent tariff.

In addition to the imposition of tariffs, Beijing launched an investigation against Google for possible antitrust violations and added US companies PVH Group and Illumina Inc. to its list of unreliable companies.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao expressed concern over US tariffs in a letter to new US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “As the world’s two largest economies, bilateral cooperation in this area is vital not only for the development of both countries, but also for global economic growth,” he pointed out, stressing the willingness to work with Washington to strengthen dialogue and manage differences on the basis of respect, peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit.

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