'They’ve been dealing quite nicely': US extends China tariff truce by 90 days; Trump-Xi summit on cards?

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order extending a trade truce with China for another three months, averting the immediate threat of escalating tariffs and export controls that have rattled global markets.

The pause, now set to last until November 10, gives Washington and Beijing more time to address trade disputes and potentially arrange a summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.“They’ve been dealing quite nicely, the relationship is very good with President Xi and myself,” Trump said at the White House, as reported by The New York Times.The extension came just hours before the 90-day truce, agreed in May during talks in Geneva, was due to expire on Tuesday.

Under that earlier deal, US tariffs on Chinese goods were cut to 30% from triple-digit levels, while China reduced its levies on American products to 10% and resumed exports of rare earth magnets critical to US manufacturers.Trump announced the new pause in a Truth Social post: “I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another 90 days.” Around the same time, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Beijing would also extend its suspension of earlier tariff hikes, starting August 12, while keeping a 10% duty in place.

The executive order reiterated Washington’s view that the large annual US trade deficit with China “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States,” while noting Beijing had “taken significant steps” toward addressing American concerns.According to news agency AFP, the May truce had been reached after months of mounting tariffs that at one point brought duties to prohibitive triple-digit levels on both sides.

Since then, negotiations have been held in London, Stockholm, and other venues, though tensions have occasionally flared.On Sunday night, with the deadline looming, Trump publicly urged China to “quickly quadruple its soybean orders,” writing to Xi on social media that “our great farmers produce the most robust soybeans.”Analysts remain cautious about the prospects for a final deal. “Beijing will be happy to keep the US-China negotiation going, but it is unlikely to make concessions,” said William Yang of the International Crisis Group, as quoted by AFP. US-China Business Council president Sean Stein described the extension as “critical to give the two governments time to negotiate an agreement” that could pave the way for a Trump-Xi meeting this fall.“This will be far from a walk in the park,” warned Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former US trade negotiator.