The US and China have bought themselves more time to negotiate.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the countries had agreed to extend their trade truce from November 10 to January 10. He announced the extension after a meeting in Washington with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived for a state visit.
“We will extend what we call the ‘Busan Agreement,’ the economic detente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on November 10, that is going to be extended until January 10,” Bessent told Fox News during a live interview on Wednesday.
The extra two months could lead to a broader deal, Bessent said, and the two sides could also “just roll the current deal” again.
“There are some deliverables that have not been perfect on the Chinese side, so we also want to see, now that we’ve sat down and told them our expectations, if over the coming months they can be more fulsome in enacting the agreement,” Bessent said.
Bessent said Xi’s visit could bring announcements on Chinese purchases of American farm products and financial services. US and Chinese officials may also discuss lower tariffs on selected goods and a system for sharing alerts about serious AI-related security incidents.
