Trump to welcome Xi Jinping for first US visit in over a decade amid fragile trade truce

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Washington from September 23 to 25, marking his first trip to the US in more than ten years. President Trump will greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews on September 23, followed by a formal White House ceremony, with the substantive talks scheduled for September 24. The visit arrives at a particularly delicate moment. A trade truce established in October 2025 is set to expire on November 30, and the two sides remain far apart on how long any extension should last. The US has proposed a six-month extension, while China is pushing for a longer period. A summit built on guardrails, not grand bargains Preparatory negotiations have been led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Their talks have focused on relatively manageable topics: AI safety frameworks and trade in non-sensitive goods. The harder stuff, tariffs, technology export controls, Taiwan, Iran, remains on the agenda but firmly in the “acknowledged, not resolved” category. The trade truce itself was always more ceasefire than peace treaty. When it was struck in late 2025, it paused the escalatory tariff cycle that had rattled global supply chains and s...