Trump set to host Xi at White House for trade truce talks on September 24

President Donald Trump will host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on September 24, with both sides focused on keeping a fragile trade ceasefire from falling apart before its November deadline.

What the truce actually is

The agreement in question is the so-called Busan truce, reached in late October 2025 during talks in the South Korean port city. It works like a mutual pause button: both sides agreed to hold off on escalating tariffs and export controls, with China committing in return to step up purchases of US goods, particularly agricultural products.

The deal expires on November 10, 2026. Without an extension or replacement agreement, the default condition would be a return to the pre-truce posture.

China’s obligations under the current arrangement are substantial. Beijing committed to purchasing at least 25 million metric tons of US soybeans annually through 2028, along with $17 billion in additional annual purchases of other US agricultural goods. Orders for Boeing aircraft are also folded into the package.

The summit will be Trump and Xi’s second face-to-face meeting this year. Their first was in May 2026 in Beijing, when Trump made the trip to China.

What the negotiators are actually working on

Senior officials from both countries held preparatory talks in New York on September 20, four days before the summit. The US side was led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng represented Beijing.

The discussions centered on three main areas. First, simply extending the tariff relief that has been in place since the Busan agreement. Second, establishing more durable supply arrangements for rare-earth materials and critical minerals. Third, negotiating reciprocal tariff reductions on roughly $30 billion worth of goods that both sides classify as non-sensitive.

US officials have already ruled out trading export-control relief for mineral supply commitments, meaning Washington won’t loosen restrictions on advanced semiconductor technology in exchange for guaranteed rare-earth flows.

Taiwan, export controls on advanced chips, and broader questions about technology transfer are all expected to be left to one side.

Why both sides need this

Agricultural states that supply soybeans and other commodities to Chinese buyers represent a voter base that notices when export markets soften, and the administration is managing midterm election optics.

Xi will arrive with a Chinese business delegation, a signal that Beijing is treating the visit partly as an economic engagement exercise rather than purely a diplomatic ritual.

For markets, the agriculture and commodity sectors are the most directly exposed to whatever the September 24 meeting produces. A confirmed extension of tariff relief stabilizes the trade flows that underpin soybean and grain futures pricing. Technology stocks are watching the rare-earth and mineral supply discussions closely, even if a comprehensive deal on that front is not expected from a single summit.