US, China extend trade truce by 2 months ahead of Trump-Xi summit

With a White House summit just one day away, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged friendly signals as the two countries agreed to extend their trade truce — set to expire in November — by two months. While a one-year extension had been floated, the two sides opted to buy time and pursue a broader trade deal.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Wednesday (local time) and announced they had agreed to extend the US-China economic agreement, due to expire Nov. 10, by two months, according to Yonhap.

The trade truce was forged last year when Trump and Xi held a summit in Busan, at which the two countries agreed to halt an escalating trade war that had seen tariffs exceeding 100 percent on both sides, suspending additional tariffs and some retaliatory measures.

Markets had speculated that the White House summit on Thursday (local time) could yield a one-year extension of the truce. But Bessent and He, meeting the day before the summit, agreed to a two-month extension only.

Bessent said the extension was intended "to buy more time to see what we can do on the economic front." He stopped short of committing to a larger deal, and said China had not fully followed through on its pledges to purchase US agricultural products such as soybeans.

The two countries are also discussing AI safeguards — specifically, a hotline that would allow them to quickly share information in the event of an AI system going out of control or being exploited in a cyberattack. Senior officials from both sides have already agreed to continue formal talks on AI risks and emergency communication channels.

Outside the negotiating room, the two leaders put on a show of warmth. Trump traveled to Joint Base Andrews near Washington on Wednesday to personally greet Xi upon his state visit arrival.

Trump said he was "very pleased to welcome President Xi and Madame Peng Liyuan to Washington" and called Xi "a great leader," according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. He described the visit as "one the whole world is watching" and said he looked forward to in-depth talks to advance the bilateral relationship.

Xi, in written remarks, said the two countries "should be partners, not rivals," calling for cooperation to take priority and for competition and differences to be managed.