A senior White House official says it is likely that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss the trade issue during a telephone call this week.

In May, the United States and China held trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland, and reached a deal. Among other things, the agreement called for both sides to cut their additional tariffs by 115 percentage points.

But the US has accused China of holding up the export of some products it agreed to release. Critical minerals are among those products. Trump said on Friday that China "totally violated" the trade agreement with the US.

Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, commented on the matter during an appearance on ABC television on Sunday.

He said, "President Trump, we expect, is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi."

He also said that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer's team and Xi's team have been "talking every day, trying to move the ball forward."

Trump is expected to speak directly with Xi and ask him to work on the trade issue. This comes amid concerns that the trade friction between the US and China could escalate again.