China trade deal extended through January, Bessent says, as Xi arrives for Trump meeting

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that U.S. and Chinese officials agreed to extend their trade truce by two months, after Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the U.S. for a summit with President Trump.

“We have agreed today that we will extend … the détente, economic détente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on Nov. 10. That is going to be extended until Jan. 10 to give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front,” Bessent told host Bret Baier on Fox News’s “ Special Report .”

The announcement came after he met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng ahead of Xi’s arrival in Washington. The Treasury secretary wrote on social platform X that their discussions focused “on securing meaningful commitments that protect American workers, farmers, and businesses.”

The trade deal , which Xi and Trump reached in October in South Korea, resulted in lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports and China agreeing to suspend its export controls on rare earth metals.

The president greeted his Chinese counterpart at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening, kicking off a state visit between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.

The duo will deliver remarks at the White House on Thursday morning, before participating in a bilateral meeting and state dinner. Aside from trade, rapidly advancing artificial intelligence is expected to be on the agenda .

“A big day with President Xi of China. Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is,” Trump wrote early Thursday on Truth Social, referring to his rebranding of AI . “That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the [Justice Department]!”

As for whether the two sides can reach a larger trade deal ahead of the new January deadline, Bessent expressed uncertainty.

“I don’t know whether a bigger deal can be done, I don’t know whether we will just roll the current deal,” he told Baier, adding that China has not met “some deliverables” stipulated by the truce.

“We also want to see, now that we’ve sat down and told them our expectations, … if over the coming months, they can be a bit more fulsome in enacting the agreement,” he added.

Bessent later referenced another potential trade pact, under which the two sides would reduce levies on $30 billion worth of “noncritical” goods. He also said the summit could yield “announcements” on agriculture and financial services.