US and China Extend Trade Truce Through January 10 as Xi Attends White House State Arrival Ceremony

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday, September 24, 2026, that the US and China had extended their trade truce — first reached in Busan in October 2025 — by two months, through January 10, 2027, rather than letting it lapse on November 10 as previously scheduled; China's rare-earth export-control threat was also delayed to the same date. Current US tariffs on Chinese goods stand at roughly 36.5%, with Chinese tariffs on US goods around 31%. The announcement coincided with Xi's formal White House arrival: a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn featured roughly 479 US service members, a Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon salute, and a flyover of a B-2 Spirit bomber with four F-22 Raptors, before Trump told Xi 'the ties between our people endure, and we've never gotten along better' and Xi described a US-China friendship 'forged in blood and fire' dating to World War II. The day closed with a state dinner in the East Room attended by tech executives including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Sam Altman and Jensen Huang. Analysts cautioned the truce extension addresses immediate friction — soybean purchases, tariff pauses — without resolving deeper disputes over export controls, Taiwan and China's ties to Iran.