![Trump and Xi Meet With Five Weeks on the Clock](https://cdn.slatesource.com/7/9/7/797d5fcd-9b3b-4b6e-890a-701ae7a0b70c.webp) # Trump and Xi Meet With Five Weeks on the Clock - [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/trump-and-xi-meet-with-five-weeks-on-the-clock) - By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph) - Created on Sep 20, 2026 Xi arrives at the White House September 24, 2026 Days until the tariff truce expires 47 (November 10) Tariff rate on Chinese exports before the Busan truce 57% Rate after the Busan truce, October 2025 47% Tariffs at the peak of the 2025 trade war above 100% on both sides Duty-free or low-tariff imports expected to be announced $30 billion ## A Decade Between Visits. Forty-Seven Days Left on the Truce. Xi Jinping's last US state visit was in 2015. He arrives at the White House on September 24 for the third meeting between him and Donald Trump in under a year, and by far the most consequential. The reason is a deadline: the trade ceasefire struck in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, 2025, expires on November 10. The Busan deal paused a trade war in which both economies had imposed tariffs exceeding 100% on each other's exports. Washington cut its rate on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%. Beijing suspended export controls on rare earth metals: the materials inside electric motors, wind turbines, and missile guidance systems. Neither side ended the conflict. They agreed to stop escalating. That pause now needs to be renewed. Both governments want the truce to continue. They disagree on how long. [Euronews: what to expect from the summit, from tariffs to a possible $30 billion deal](https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/09/18/what-to-expect-from-the-trump-xi-summit-from-tariffs-to-a-possible-30-billion-deal?utm_source=slatesource) ## What Breaks If Nothing Gets Done The economic context makes failure expensive for both leaders. Trump enters the November midterms with diesel above $6 a gallon and inflation at 3.4%. He needs announcements that show up in prices, not in six months. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has already previewed "some announcements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers," meaning the outline of a deal has been drafted. China's position is weaker. Retail sales grew only 0.4% in August. Fixed-asset investment contracted 7.2% in the first eight months of 2026. Beijing has injected 360 billion yuan into state banks to keep credit flowing. The official growth target, 4.5 to 5%, is the lowest in decades. CSIS senior adviser Edgard Kagan: "The visit is the message." ## Boeing, Soybeans, and What the Signing Ceremonies Will Look Like The anticipated deal has three parts. First, a truce extension. China wants it to run through the end of the Trump administration. Washington prefers a few months to maintain leverage. Analysts expect a compromise of roughly one year. Second, Boeing. China said in May it would buy 200 more 737 MAX jets, which Boeing called only an "initial tranche." Xi is arriving with a large business delegation, recalling the 2015 summit when China signed a $38 billion deal for 300 aircraft. The number this time may be higher. Third, agriculture. US farm exports to China totalled $8.4 billion in 2025. The $30 billion figure agreed in May would require China to roughly triple its purchases. Greer confirmed agriculture would feature in the announcement. [Reuters factbox: what will Trump and Xi discuss in Washington next week](https://www.investing.com/news/economic-indicators/factboxwhat-will-trump-and-xi-discuss-in-washington-next-week-4906468?utm_source=slatesource) ## The Cancellation Threat Nobody Said Out Loud The summit almost did not happen. Beijing warned through diplomatic channels that it would cancel if Washington approved a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan before Xi's arrival. Trump had previously called the package a "negotiating chip." It remained unnotified as of this week. Taiwan is Xi's floor condition for every meeting. Iran is Trump's: China is the world's largest buyer of Iranian oil, and Washington's Operation Economic Outcast aims to cut Tehran off from global finance. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend to settle the agenda. The White House dinner table is expected to include Sam Altman of OpenAI, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Tim Cook of Apple, and Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm. Xi is reported to bring BYD representatives. The AI and semiconductor competition between the two countries is not on the public agenda. > The Chinese anticipate an announcement of around $30 billion in duty-free or low-tariff imports. Washington believes it will extract further purchases in return. The visit is the message. ## Three Summits, One Holding Pattern The Busan meeting in October 2025 was the reset after the 100%-tariff spiral. Trump's May visit to Beijing was the first time a sitting US president had traveled to China since 2014. September 24 is the capstone of that sequence. Each meeting produced a narrow transactional outcome and left the deeper structural competition untouched. AI export controls remain. The semiconductor ban has not lifted. No joint statement on Taiwan has been issued. What the three summits accomplished was keeping the two economies from fully decoupling: supply chains are connected, rare earths are flowing, aircraft are still ordered. Whether that holding pattern survives a midterm election and a second Trump term without something larger breaking is not a question the signing ceremony on September 24 will answer. [CSIS: full tracker of the Trump-Xi 2026 summits with expert analysis](https://www.csis.org/programs/trump-xi-2026-summits?utm_source=slatesource)