Washington and Beijing have extended their trade truce to January 10, delaying a November 10 deadline as President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their second summit of 2026.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the extension after meeting China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng at the World Bank in Washington. Under the truce, the two countries have agreed to reduce tariffs and avoid imposing further trade restrictions. Bessent said the additional time could allow both sides to continue discussions at forthcoming international summits in China in November and Florida in December.
The two officials also discussed setting up a communication channel on concerns surrounding artificial intelligence. Details of the channel’s structure and scope were not announced.
Xi arrived in Washington on Wednesday for his first state visit to the United States in over a decade. Trump met him at Joint Base Andrews with a planeside welcome, an unusual presidential reception for a visiting leader.
The formal welcome ceremony featured a 100-foot red carpet, a 21-person honour guard and a flyover by two B-1 bombers. The display set the tone for a visit intended to show continued engagement between the world’s two largest economies despite serious disputes.
Trump and Xi were expected to discuss the tariff truce, the Iran war, Taiwan’s future and the competition to develop artificial intelligence. Neither side announced a wider agreement by the end of the summit, although both leaders made optimistic statements.
The visit lasted three days. A state dinner on Thursday brought together the two presidents and technology figures including Tim Cook and Sam Altman. On the final day, Trump and Xi, accompanied by their spouses, had tea at the White House before visiting the National Archives.
The January 10 extension provides the two governments with a defined period in which to manage trade tensions. It also takes the issue beyond two further planned meetings between the leaders in 2026.
Trump said he would meet Xi in China in November and again at the G20 summit in Florida in December. Xi was expected to have two more meetings with Trump during the year.
The two leaders last met in Busan, South Korea, in October. At that meeting, they rolled back restrictions on critical minerals and high-tech exports. The latest talks preserved the tariff truce and outlined a possible channel for discussion on artificial intelligence, while the outcomes of discussions on Taiwan, Iran and other bilateral issues remained unclear.
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