Trump and Xi Hold Call, China Says

President Trump spoke to China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, on Thursday for the first time since taking office, according to Chinese state media, as a fragile truce in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies shows signs of unraveling.

The call was reported by Chinese state media in a brief dispatch late Thursday that did not immediately include details. Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi were last known to have spoken to each other on Jan. 17, days before Mr. Trump was inaugurated as president.

The call comes as tensions between China and the United States have ratcheted up again nearly a month after the two sides met in Geneva and agreed to a pause in the trade war.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump wrote on social media that Mr. Xi was “VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH.”

The Trump administration has accused Beijing of breaking the truce by restricting exports of critical rare earth minerals used by a range of American manufacturers, including carmakers and semiconductor producers. Shortages of the minerals, which are used to make powerful industrial magnets, could bring some American factories to a standstill. China dominates the global market for the minerals and views it as a choke point over the United States.

In response, the Trump administration has proposed a plan to revoke visas for some Chinese students and suspended some sales to China of components and software used in jet engines and semiconductors, as well as certain types of chemicals and machinery.