Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 'Victory Day of the Great Patriotic War' concert hosted by Russia on May 8. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin stated in an interview on Sunday that President Trump is likely to speak with President Xi soon. Since Trump took office on January 20 and initiated a large-scale trade war, he has repeatedly suggested that Xi wants to talk to him. However, to date, there is no public record of Xi having called Trump regarding trade issues.

During an interview with CBS on Sunday, when asked if Trump and Xi had arranged a call, Mnuchin said, "I believe we are going to see some progress very soon." Trump accused China on Friday of violating agreements made with the U.S. by not reciprocating the removal of tariffs and trade restrictions on critical minerals. Mnuchin added, "China's current actions are withholding products that are crucial to the industrial supply chains of India and Europe. This is not the behavior of a reliable partner."

He continued, "I am confident that once President Trump speaks with Chairman Xi, this issue will be resolved. However, they are currently withholding some products that were promised to be released under the agreement. This may be a problem within the Chinese system or could be intentional. We will need to wait to confirm after the President and Chairman Xi speak." Trump expressed confidence that he would soon talk with Xi, while the Chinese side pointed out in April that the two leaders had not spoken recently.