Trump, Xi Meet in Washington as Trade Truce Extended Two Months

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet at the White House on Thursday for talks spanning trade, security and technology, with both leaders appearing convinced that time works in their favour.

The two sides agreed on Wednesday to extend a one-year trade truce, which had been due to expire on Nov. 10, by two months — a stopgap shorter than either side had signalled in recent weeks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the arrangement, first forged in Busan, South Korea, could yet give way to a broader deal by January, or be extended again.

China had sought an extension running to the end of Trump's term in January 2029, while U.S. officials floated three to six months, citing slow Chinese progress on rare earth exports and purchases of American soybeans and aircraft.

Both governments have reason to keep the truce intact. Trump's Republican Party faces a difficult midterm election in November, and Xi is steering an economy in which domestic demand is weak even as high-tech exports hold up. Peak U.S. tariffs reached 145% during last year's trade battle, matched by Chinese levies of 125%; after the Busan meeting the average U.S. rate fell to roughly 47%, with China's averaging in the mid-30s. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of Trump's tariffs, leaving the duties on Chinese goods more variable.

Iran is another point of friction. Washington has pressed Beijing, which relies heavily on Gulf oil, to use its influence with Tehran to help end the nearly seven-month war, but China has resisted both the appeals and the accompanying economic threats. Beijing has condemned U.S. and Israeli military action, with Xi warning of a return to the "law of the jungle."

China was also unsettled by the U.S. operation that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to New York to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges, and by subsequent American pressure on Latin American states to scale back ties with Beijing.

Taiwan remains, in China's view, the most sensitive issue in the relationship. Beijing, which considers the island its territory and has vowed to take it by force if necessary, has urged Washington to halt arms sales permanently — most prominently at a Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing in May. After that encounter, Trump held off final approval for a record $14 billion arms package and described such sales as a "very good negotiating chip." Analysts suggest he may keep the pause in place at least through the end of the year.

Trump, who treats face-to-face meetings with Xi as central to managing the relationship, wants the Chinese president at December's Group of 20 summit at his Doral resort in Florida. Xi, in turn, wants Trump to attend November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen.

Technology is also on the agenda. Xi is seeking relief from U.S. export restrictions on advanced chips, while Bessent said the two leaders might consider a new "notification mechanism" for AI incidents with national security implications. Thursday's state dinner guest list includes Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg.

Trump has leaned into the pageantry of the state visit, greeting Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on their arrival outside Washington on Wednesday evening. Construction of a new helicopter landing pad on the South Lawn was completed in time for the visit, though the president has lamented that a planned White House ballroom will not be ready for the dinner.

Analysts expect limited deliverables rather than a breakthrough. Ryan Hass, a former China adviser under Barack Obama now at the Brookings Institution, said both sides would be "managing for small gains and conflict avoidance," adding that leaving the arms sales pause in place would count as a win for Beijing.