The U.S.-China summit, held in Washington from the 23rd to the 25th local time, focused on managing tensions by temporarily shelving contentious issues rather than resolving key matters such as trade. The unresolved issues were deferred to the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, and the December Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Miami, United States. Although both sides highlighted the summit's achievements in separate official statements, their differences over key issues remained evident. In trade, the two sides agreed to mutual tariff reductions worth $30 billion and to launch a trade and investment committee. However, the key issue of rare-earth elements was omitted entirely from China's statement. The extension of the 'trade truce,' which expires in November, lasted only two months. China, which sought to extend the truce until the end of the Trump administration, decided to retain leverage involving rare-earth elements and other measures against the United States, which was unwilling to give up its trade-pressure tools. Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on the 23rd that the 'trade truce' with China, set to expire in November, would be extended by two months. In artificial intelligence (AI), the two sides agreed to establish a channel for dialogue, but no specific cooperation measures, such as developing joint rules, were included in the announcement. Taiwan was also discussed at the summit, but neither side included the issue in its statement. ■ No Substantive Progress in Trade China did not give up its rare-earth leverage, while the United States continues to hold on to its trade-pressure tools. Xi Jinping asked Donald Trump to halt arms sales to Taiwan and declare that Taiwan's independence would not be tolerated, but those requests were not accepted either. Politico, a U.S. political news outlet, assessed that there had been little substantive progress in trade and noted that the differences between the two sides' statements showed they had still failed to find common ground on key trade disputes. The White House said in an official factsheet issued on the 25th local time that President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping had "agreed to build a constructive relationship that promotes strategic stability based on respect, fairness and reciprocity." China also announced the summit's 'eight achievements' through the Xinhua News Agency on the 26th, saying that the two countries had agreed to build a 'constructive strategic stability relationship between China and the United States based on respect, fairness and equality.' China emphasized that the terms 'respect, fairness and equality' had been newly added to the 'constructive strategic stability relationship' proposed at the leaders' summit last May. This underscored China's position as an equal dialogue partner of the United States. The differences over rare-earth elements were especially pronounced. Unlike the White House's account, China's summary of the summit did not even mention the rare-earth issue. ■ U.S. and China Also Differ Over AI The White House factsheet alone stated that U.S. exports including agricultural products, fish, seafood, timber, wood products and medical devices would be subject to tariff reductions. It also said that China plans to import at least 10 million metric tons of U.S. coal in both 2027 and 2028. The two sides agreed to continue dialogue on AI, but reached no more specific agreement. The White House said the two leaders had agreed to use the term 'superintelligence' (SI) instead of AI and would continue follow-up talks through November. China, however, continued to use the existing term 'AI' rather than 'SI.' Neither side's account included further cooperation measures, such as joint research or the development of shared rules. Instead, their differing positions on the scope of AI cooperation became apparent during the summit and in public remarks afterward. President Trump expressed opposition to introducing new regulations on AI. Trump said, "I want to leave it as it is," while Xi emphasized cooperation. Xi said at the summit, "Although competition exists, cooperation is also possible, and rather than guarding against and defending against each other, we should leverage our respective strengths." The two leaders agreed to oppose Iran's possession of nuclear weapons and the imposition of tolls on passage through the Strait of Hormuz. However, more specific measures, including an end to China's military and economic support for Iran, were not included in the agreement, leaving a potential source of conflict unresolved. [email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Correspondent Reporter