Trump and Xi extend trade truce amid ongoing strategic rivalry

At a ceremonious summit, President Trump and Xi Jinping pledged to meet twice more before year-end and to lengthen their trade truce until January 10. The original deal, forged in South Korea, required China to increase purchases of US agricultural goods and suspend rare-earth curbs for a year. While the extension offers a temporary pause, experts say the rivalry over trade, tech, Taiwan, defense and industrial policy remains intense.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the new deadline, and top trade official Jamieson Greer described the extension as a short-term compliance window. Observers warn that without concrete results, the truce may not endure, and both nations continue to prepare safeguards, including a proposed AI incident notification channel.