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Washington and Beijing have outlined reciprocal tariff cuts and an AI dialogue after the Trump-Xi summit, but the tariff changes still require domestic legal steps.
What has changed? · 28/09/2026, 11:15 UTC
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Chinese President Xi Jinping ended his three-day state visit to the United States on Friday, 25 September, with both leaders expecting to meet twice more this year and a trade truce extended by two months. Major differences between the countries remained unresolved. [9] [10]
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, had tea with Donald and Melania Trump at the White House before the two couples visited the National Archives in Washington. The presidents exchanged a final handshake outside the Archives before departing. [10]
In a Truth Social post reproduced by Mediaite, Trump described the meetings as successful for both countries. He said he and Xi would meet again in China in November and at the G20 summit in Miami, Florida, in December. [2]
Xi also described the visit as very successful and invited Trump and the first lady to November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, AP reported. Trump responded positively to the invitation. APEC lists its leaders' meeting for 18–19 November. [10] [5]
One concrete announcement during the visit was an extension of the countries' trade truce. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on 23 September that officials had agreed to prolong the Busan agreement from its scheduled expiry on 10 November until 10 January 2027, allowing more time for economic negotiations. Reuters also reported the two-month extension. [8] [9]
The leaders' upbeat assessments nevertheless contrasted with limited public progress on broader disputes. Reuters reported that major differences remained over trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and China's ties to Iran. AP likewise reported no major breakthroughs during the week on trade or AI safety.
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US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said details of the limited trade agreements reached during the visit would be released on Monday, 28 September, Reuters reported. [9]
A framework published on 27 September covers two lists of goods: US products imported into China and Chinese products imported into the US. Each list represents roughly $30bn in annual trade, valued using 2024 figures. Those figures describe goods covered by the plan, not the value of tariff savings. Any reductions will be made through each country’s domestic legal procedures; China says the two sides intend to put them into effect simultaneously. [16] [15]
China’s commerce ministry also says both sides have agreed to extend arrangements suspending some tariff and non-tariff measures from 10 November until 10 January 2027. The extension does not apply to all tariffs between the two countries. [15]
On technology, the White House says the countries have established a dialogue on the risks and benefits of what it calls ‘super intelligence’. China describes it as an artificial intelligence dialogue and says a first meeting took place during trade consultations on 20–23 September. Both governments have agreed to establish a channel for communicating about AI-related incidents, with another dialogue planned by November. [13] [14] [15]
Some contentious technology and supply-chain questions remain open. The White House says the two countries are still working on rare-earth and other critical-mineral shortages, but announced no new shipment target. The summit announcements also set out no easing of US restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports. [13] [18]