One day before Thursday’s state visit, top U.S. and Chinese economic officials agreed to extend their truce on tariffs for two months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News.That deal — struck last fall in Busan, South Korea — was initially set to expire Nov. 10. It lowered tariffs levied by both countries, paused restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and said China would continue to buy large quantities of U.S.
soybeans, a pledge China has failed to keep. The truce allowed the two countries to climb down from a tit-for-tat trade war that sent U.S. and Chinese tariffs to more than 100% at one point in spring 2025. Bessent told Fox News it was extended until January to “give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front.”Bessent, who met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng over the weekend and on Wednesday, said this week the Chinese have proposed a “bigger deal” on trade between the U.S.
and China, beyond the trade truce brokered in Busan in October. “We’re open to the idea of just continuing the Busan arrangement, or examining the bigger deal,” Bessent told reporters Wednesday. “We’re fine with both, and we’re going to do what’s best for the American people.” On Fox News Monday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said there will be an announcement establishing a U.S.-China “Board of Trade,” which will determine a “relatively small subset of goods” that the two countries agree they should protect from trade disputes.
That may include things like low-tech consumer goods and some agricultural products, Greer said. The idea of such a board was discussed when Mr. Trump and Xi met in May.
