Trump confirmed that the talks had happened since he upped tariffs on China to a whopping 145 percent, after Beijing retaliated to his sweeping "Liberation Day" worldwide levies.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced late Friday that some smartphones, computers, chips and other electronics would be exempted from tariffs, but Trump's top economic advisers hit the Sunday talk shows to explain the policy, saying that tariffs against electronics would be coming in the next month or two.