The United States and China have agreed to extend their trade truce through Jan. 10, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday. The agreement had been scheduled to expire on Nov. 10.
The two-month extension gives Washington and Beijing more time to negotiate after another round of talks between Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Reuters also reported that the extension is intended to provide additional time for negotiations over a potentially broader trade agreement.
“We have agreed today that we will extend what we call the Busan agreement, the economic détente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on Nov. 10 that is going to be extended until Jan. 10 to give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front,” Bessent told Fox News.
The current trade arrangement was reached after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in Busan, South Korea, in October 2025. The one-year truce was designed to ease economic tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Bessent said the two sides could continue the existing arrangement or pursue a broader agreement.
“I don’t know whether a bigger deal can be done. I don’t know whether we will just roll the current deal,” Bessent said.
U.S. officials have raised concerns over whether Beijing has fully carried out commitments under the existing agreement, including commitments involving rare earth exports.
“There’s some deliverables that have not been perfect on the Chinese side,” Bessent said. He added that Washington wants to see whether Beijing can more fully implement the agreement over the coming months.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer previously pointed to China’s issuance of rare earth export licenses as one of the issues under review. Greer said China had limited and controlled rare earth exports and that U.S. officials were monitoring the situation.
Bessent said Chinese trade representatives had proposed a “bigger deal” during an earlier round of negotiations Sunday. He did not provide details about the proposal.
“We’re open to the idea of just continuing the Busan arrangement or examining the bigger deal,” Bessent said. “We’re fine with both, and we’re going to do what’s best for the American people.”
The latest negotiations come as Trump hosts Xi in Washington. Bessent described his discussions with He as “substantive” and said the talks focused on commitments affecting American workers, farmers and businesses, as well as U.S. economic and national security interests.
Trade was not the only subject under discussion. The two countries have also formalized a U.S.-China dialogue on artificial intelligence and agreed to meet again in Shenzhen in about two months.
Bessent said officials are also working on an “incident line” that would allow the two governments to communicate about AI safety incidents. Discussions are expected to cover risks including uncontrolled AI agents and the use of AI by non-state actors for cyberattacks or biological threats.