Washington, DC - President Donald Trump has told reporters that he's in "no hurry" to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite rapidly escalating trade wars and previous claims to the contrary.

Despite expectations and prior claims that Xi and Trump would hold talks early this year, Trump told White House reporters on Tuesday that he is in "no rush" and there are no current plans.

The Trump administration has in its first two weeks launched a trade war against China, centered on an additional 10% duty on all imports.

Earlier this week, talks between Trump and leaders in Canada and Mexico led to the suspension of 25% duties on imports after both countries vowed to take stronger measures on their borders.

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A day before Trump took office in January, the Wall Street Journal reported that he had told advisors that he would like to organize a trip to meet with the Chinese leader within his first 100 days.

Trump also invited Xi to his inauguration, though Beijing ended up sending Vice President Han Zheng in his stead.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while Trump still wants to speak with Xi, she has no updates on when such a meeting would take place.

"President Xi did reach out to President Trump to speak about this, maybe to begin a negotiation," Reuters cited Leavitt as saying on Tuesday. "So we'll see how that call goes."