The United States and China are seeking to preserve their fragile trade truce before President Donald Trump visits Chinese President Xi Jinping for a high-stakes summit in Beijing this spring, according to the South China Morning Post.
On the sidelines of the 2025 APEC summit in Busan, South Korea, Trump and Xi held a pivotal meeting that produced a significant—though temporary—trade agreement. Following months of escalating tariffs, curbs on rare-earth exports, and agricultural boycotts, the two leaders agreed to a one-year truce that provided a measure of relief to the world’s two largest economies.
“There seems to be a really strong appetite to maintain that fragile trade truce that we saw struck in late 2025,” Nick Marro, global trade lead at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told SCMP. “I think, at best, we could see this continuation of a detente in tariff policy.”
South China Morning Post reports:
Extending the informal months-long understanding, a step seen by officials as realistic and achievable, would anchor the summit around short-term economic wins, including fresh Chinese purchase commitments, the sources said.
Trump is expected to travel to China in early April, according to four people familiar with the plans. An initial arrival date under consideration was March 31, leading to a bilateral meeting with Xi in the first week of April as part of a visit lasting about three days, two of the people said.
Trump described the 2025 deal as a “massive victory,” announcing reductions in certain U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods (from around 57% to 47% in key areas like fentanyl-related levies), while China committed to resuming large-scale purchases of American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products, suspending new rare-earth restrictions, and cooperating on fentanyl flows.
The Busan agreement gave American farmers and manufacturers some breathing room, halted further escalation, and opened the door to potential longer-term negotiations, even as deeper structural issues around technology and supply chains remain unresolved.
“Both sides will look for deliverables that can be packaged as wins they can present at home,” Wang Dan, China director at Eurasia Group, told SCMP, adding “This could include numerical commitments for soybeans, energy and manufactured goods from the US.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in the coming weeks to discuss deliverables ahead of the meeting, sources told the South China Morning Post.
Last week, senior @USTreasury staff visited China to strengthen channels of communication and advance the dialogue between our nations.
During their visit, our teams discussed preparation for the next high-level meeting on U.S.-China trade between myself and Vice Premier He…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) February 9, 2026
Last week, Trump and Xi held their first phone call in months, which the president characterically called “excellent.”
“I have just completed an excellent telephone conversation with President Xi, of China. It was a long and thorough call, where many important subjects were discussed, including Trade, Military, the April trip that I will be making to China (which I very much look forward to!), Taiwan, the War between Russia/Ukraine, the current situation with Iran, the purchase of Oil and Gas by China from the United States, the consideration by China of the purchase of additional Agricultural products including lifting the Soybean count to 20 Million Tons for the current season (They have committed to 25 Million Tons for next season!), Airplane engine deliveries, and numerous other subjects, all very positive!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way,” the president continued. “I believe that there will be many positive results achieved over the next three years of my Presidency having to do with President Xi, and the People’s Republic of China.”
China’s official readout presented a more pointed tone, emphasizing Xi’s focus on Taiwan and urging Washington to reduce tensions over the self-ruled island.
On Monday, US Ambassador to China, David Perdue, said at an event organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Beijing that the US was “not closing the door to doing business with China.”
“As President Trump has said, we want to trade with China, we need to trade, but that trade should be balanced and with full reciprocity,” Perdue said. “I’m very optimistic about the year ahead and also clear-eyed. The challenges are real.”
Xi called the U.S. approach to Taiwan “the most important issue in China-U.S. relations,” declaring that China “will never allow Taiwan to be separated from China.”
By Zerohedge
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