The United States and China have agreed to extend their bilateral trade truce through January 10, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday, keeping the agreement in place beyond its previously scheduled expiration in November. The announcement followed an unscheduled meeting in Washington between Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
“We will extend what we call the ‘Busan Agreement,’ the economic détente 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.
Bessent said the two countries could reach a broader economic agreement by January, although they may instead choose to extend the existing deal with few changes. The decision came shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for a state visit.
Bessent also suggested that additional agreements could be declared by the Chinese delegation in the coming days, potentially covering increased purchases of U.S. agricultural products and expanded cooperation in financial services.
Since Sunday, Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have been negotiating with their Chinese counterparts to prepare for the state visit. On Sunday, Bessent and Greer said the two countries had proposed sharing alerts about AI-related cyberattacks, particularly incidents involving national security concerns. Greer also stated that the U.S. and China could establish lists of goods eligible for reduced tariffs under President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Trade’ initiative with China.
“We expect that the types of goods you’ll see in those lists are consumer goods, low-tech items coming in from the Chinese side,” he added. “On the U.S. side, energy products, agricultural goods, potentially medical devices and other things like that.”
Xi’s visit marks his first state trip to the United States in more than a decade.
ENERGY INDUSTRY | South Korea to Reduce Middle East Oil Imports by 2035
