President Donald Trump has come up short on striking trade deals with most nations with just one month left before his self-imposed tariff deadline, even as he took his first steps in weeks toward engaging with China.

China and the U.S. have agreed to more tariff talks amid a trade standoff and concerns over rare earths, President Donald Trump said Thursday after a call with China's leader. Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on Thursday at a time when stalled tariff negotiations between their two countries have roiled global trade.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly in April as President Donald Trump sharply escalated tariffs before pausing a large swath of the levies, U.S. Commerce Department data on Thursday showed.