Slow progress and disagreement on key initial demands from Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is raising doubts about whether the U.S. and China will actually return to the negotiating table to overcome their much deeper differences.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on the phone with their Chinese counterparts as the two sides relaunch trade talks, marking the first high-level contact since their presidents agreed to a tentative truce last month.

The United States and China are close to a trade deal that could lift most or all U.S. tariffs as long as Beijing follows through on pledges ranging from better protecting intellectual-property rights to buying a significant amount of American products, two people familiar with the discussions said.

U.S. and Chinese negotiators are working on multiple memorandums of understanding that would form the basis of a final trade deal, according to a person briefed on the talks.

The European Union’s trade chief, Cecilia Malmstrom, will continue talks with her U.S. counterpart Jan. 10, after the two met earlier the week of Jan. 7 in an effort to tamp down escalating commercial tensions, according to the European Commission.

The Trump administration is making official its decision to delay until March 1 a tariff hike on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from 10%, according to two people familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump’s threat to impose sweeping new tariffs on imported automobiles may be an attempt to pressure his NAFTA partners into striking a deal that would help drive manufacturing jobs back to the United States.