Trump welcomes Xi to Washington; tariffs truce extended until January
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has announced that the United States and China have agreed to a two-month extension of the tariffs truce, which was due to expire on 10 November and will therefore remain in force until 10 January
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on 23 September for a three-day state visit to the United States. He was personally welcomed at Joint Base Andrews by Donald Trump, alongside First Lady Melania.
An unusual move by US protocol: according to Reuters, it was the first time since 2015 – when Pope Francis visited – that a US president had received a foreign leader directly at an air base.
Trump and Xi exchanged a few words during the ceremony, which was accompanied by the national anthems, military honours and a flypast by B-1 bombers. The actual political talks, however, are scheduled for today, 24 September, at the White House. The talks will focus primarily on trade, technology, Taiwan and major international crises, including the conflict with Iran.
On the eve of the summit, there was an initial sign of a thaw in trade relations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the United States and China had agreed to a two-month extension of the tariff truce, which was due to expire on 10 November and will now remain in force until 10 January. The extension should give both sides more time to negotiate a broader economic agreement.
In a written statement issued on his arrival, Xi set out the objective of a stable relationship between the world’s two largest economies, based on cooperation and controlled competition, with differences regarded as manageable. Today’s summit will serve to assess the extent to which this approach can translate into concrete progress on the issues that continue to divide Washington and Beijing.
