U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to push back the expiration of a trade truce with China by two months from November, timing the move to Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States. The extension falls short of the three to six months floated by some U.S. officials, and well short of Beijing's demand for a truce lasting through the remaining two years and four months of Trump's term.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent set Jan. 10 as the new deadline for the agreement reached last year to hold off on tariffs and export controls, Bloomberg reported on the 23rd. The Chinese government offered no immediate comment on the report. Bessent told Fox News he did not know whether a broader deal could be reached. The two sides are expected to meet again at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen in November and the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.
Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the step showed the limits of what the summit could deliver for markets, while leaving open the possibility that the two leaders themselves could strike a longer agreement. He attributed the short duration to Washington's dissatisfaction with what Beijing has put on the table, saying the United States appears not yet satisfied with China's proposals on rare earths and other issues.
The two countries remain at odds over trade, Taiwan and leadership in artificial intelligence. Adam Farrar of Bloomberg Economics said the brief extension leaned toward easing tensions rather than resolving underlying grievances. "The question is whether the next two months can produce the substantive, predictable long-term agreement that markets expect," he said.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington shortly before 6 p.m. that day. Trump shook hands with the couple on the tarmac. Apart from papal visits, it was the first time in about 60 years that a U.S. president had greeted a foreign leader at the airfield. The last instance was in 1962, when President John F. Kennedy welcomed then-British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
The unusual protocol gave China an opening to showcase itself as an equal of the United States. Jonathan Czin of the Brookings Institution said it was notable that Trump was going to extraordinary lengths to extend such honors to America's foremost geopolitical rival, adding that it was unclear what he was getting in return for the gesture.
Meanwhile, the five broadcasters in the White House television pool did not carry the welcoming ceremony live. The decision came after Trump barred three news organizations from the White House over their coverage. Chinese state media, by contrast, broadcast live worldwide the scene of Trump personally greeting Xi.
