US, China agree to extend trade truce by two months, work on bigger deal, Bessent says

The Korea Times - Sep 24, 2026

WASHINGTON — The United States and China have agreed to extend by two months a trade truce that was due to expire on November 10, allowing more time to work on a potentially bigger trade deal, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday. Bessent made the remarks on Fox News hours after his second meeting in four days with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to prepare for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. "We met today to see if we could do a bigger deal as opposed to just a series of smaller things," the Treasury chief said, noting that the two-month extension of the trade truce agreed in Busan, South Korea in May would give the two sides "more time to see what we can do on the economic front." Bessent told reporters earlier that Beijing had raised the prospect of a more expansive U.S.-China trade deal during 12 hours of talks on Sunday, but gave no details of its potential scope. Wednesday's meeting lasted about 90 minutes, Treasury said. Asked if a deal could be negotiated by January 10, Bessent told Fox News that was n

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