Xi's US visit and trade truce extension

Xi Jinping arrived in the US for a summit with Trump, greeted with an unusually elaborate airport reception, as the two sides finalized a two-month extension of the trade truce reached earlier in Busan. Treasury Secretary Bessent confirmed the extension, which postpones further tariff escalation while negotiations continue. However, friction over China's rare earth export controls has emerged as a complicating factor, threatening to undermine the durability of the truce even as the summit proceeds.

As it ran

24 September 2026

• Xi’s US visit begins with rare airport welcome from Trump, trade truce extension South China Morning Post
• Bessent announces 2-month extension of Busan trade deal with China South China Morning Post
• Trump welcomes Xi to Washington as US, China agree to extend trade truce Al Jazeera
• Bessent announces 2-month extension of US-China trade truce South China Morning Post
• Trump welcomes China's Xi to Washington with planeside ceremony and extension of trade truce AP
• What a 2-month trade-truce extension reveals as US-China rifts persist South China Morning Post

22 September 2026

• Rare earths friction threatens to stall trade truce extension ahead of Xi summit South China Morning Post