Xi's State Visit Ends With a Two-Month Extension of the Trade Truce, a New "Board of Trade" and a Pair of Pandas for Atlanta — Trump Calls It "One of Friendship, Strength, and Success," 21 Senate Democrats Say the Summit "Failed to Deliver," and Chuck Grassley Warns Trump Is "Making a Great Big Mistake by Having a Showcase of a Communist Autocrat"
Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington produced no signed Boeing, soybean or fentanyl deal and no White House readout. On Sept. 23, the day Xi arrived, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox that the "Busan Agreement" trade truce, due to expire Nov. 10, would be extended to Jan. 10, 2027, and USTR Jamieson Greer described a new U.S.-China "Board of Trade" to cut tariffs on lists of goods. The Sept. 24 summit also produced an AI crisis dialogue and two pandas for Zoo Atlanta. Trump called it "a great meeting" and on Sept. 25 posted that he and Xi would meet again in November in China and in December at the G20 in Miami. Reaction split largely along party lines. Twenty-one Senate Democrats led by Jeanne Shaheen said the summit "failed to deliver" and called the truce extension "a temporary band-aid on a crisis of the President's own making." Ron Wyden and Richard Neal said China was breaking its purchase promises while Trump punished allies. Farm-state Republicans welcomed the stability but wanted enforceable purchases, and Chuck Grassley said a truce extension alone would make the visit "a great big mistake."
“Yeah, of course it's a step forward. … Scott Bessent had set this up weeks before the actual visit of President Xi occurred. … We all know that nothing terribly meaningful came out of this conversation. And look, Xi himself is waiting for 37 days when he will now face a president of the United States who has been rebuked by his own people. … But like I said, let's not be too harsh. Anytime we're talking to the Chinese and stopping misunderstandings and making incremental progress on things like AI or not starting another trade war, you know, it's a valuable couple of days.”