[UPDATE] Bessent says U.S. and China agreed to extend trade truce from Nov. 10 to Jan. 10

Trump personally greeted Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews on Sept. 23 for the Chinese president’s first U.S. state visit since September 2015.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday, Sept. 23, that the United States and China agreed to extend their trade truce from Nov. 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027. The deal, reached in South Korea in 2025, temporarily limits tariffs (taxes on imports) between the countries. AFP reporting. What next. Trump and Xi have private talks and a state dinner scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 24. Trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, Iran and political prisoners are on the agenda. The arrival ceremony itself produced no agreement between the leaders. White House schedule.

PREVIOUSLY

Aug. 18 — The United Arab Emirates halted trade and financial transactions with Iran after alleging an Iranian missile incident; Tehran denied firing the missiles.
Aug. 24–26 — Washington imposed sanctions (economic penalties) on nearly 60 Iranian targets during this period and threatened Iran’s trading partners with penalties; China rejected the threat.
Aug. 31 — Bessent promised weekly penalties against foreign firms doing business with Iran.
Sept. 21 — U.S. and Chinese officials opened New York talks on trade, artificial intelligence and critical minerals before Xi’s Washington visit.
Sept. 23 — A proposed emergency communication channel for artificial intelligence incidents emerged as a possible agreement between the leaders.

ContextThe United States and China trade goods in both directions, as recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division. Electrical machinery and equipment accounted for 29.8% of U.S. imports from China, compared with 26.8% for machinery including computers and 15.3% for furniture, bedding, and toys, according to U.S. Census Bureau and BEA end-use estimates. At their May 2026 Beijing meeting, Trump and Xi agreed to begin discussing artificial intelligence safeguards. Those discussions preceded this visit but did not establish safeguards (Council on Foreign Relations). BASELINE FACTS FROM PUBLIC DATA Partner country: China. Trade in both directions: Recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division for 2024. Leading sectors as shares of U.S. imports from China: Electrical machinery and equipment (29.8%), machinery including computers (26.8%), and furniture, bedding, and toys (15.3%). Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BEA end-use estimates.