Xi Jinping Floats a "Bigger Deal"—What Will He Trade With Trump?

【Financial News, New York—Correspondent Lee Byung-cheol】  China has offered the United States a "bigger deal" that goes beyond extending the existing trade truce, a day before the U.S.-China summit. The United States is also open to both extending the trade truce reached in Busan last year as it stands and considering the bigger deal proposed by China. With the two countries' top economic officials meeting again in Washington, D.C., just before the summit to finalize the agenda, attention is focused on the scope of any agreement reached during U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping's talks on the 24th.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters after meeting He Lifeng, vice premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, at World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the 23rd local time, "The Chinese side presented the idea of a bigger deal on Sunday." It was the second meeting between Bessent and Vice Premier He in three days, following their meeting in New York on the 20th to coordinate the summit agenda.
Bessent said, "We are open both to continuing the Busan agreement as it stands and to considering a bigger deal," adding, "Both options are fine, and we will choose what is best for the American people." He did not disclose the specific contents of the bigger deal proposed by China.
The U.S.-China trade truce reached in Busan last year expires on November 10. The two countries sharply reduced their reciprocal tariff rates, which had soared into triple digits amid retaliatory tariffs, while China agreed to normalize supplies of rare-earth magnets and critical minerals. The United States, however, has continued to pressure China, saying its recent rare-earth supplies have fallen short of the levels expected when the agreement was reached.
Ahead of the summit, the two sides are discussing not only tariffs and rare earths but also China's purchases of U.S. agricultural products and Boeing aircraft. The possible launch of a "Board of Trade" to reduce tariffs on certain nonstrategic goods is also on the negotiating table. Chinese consumer goods and low-tech products, along with U.S. energy, agricultural products and medical devices, could be targeted for tariff reductions.
Artificial intelligence has also emerged as a new area of cooperation. Bessent said that at their meeting on the 20th, the two countries had agreed to establish a hotline to notify each other when AI safety incidents occur. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, however, only reported that the two sides had discussed AI, leaving the alleged hotline agreement unconfirmed.
Bessent wrote on X that the meeting was "substantive" and said it "focused on securing meaningful commitments that protect American workers, farmers and businesses while advancing the U.S. economy and national security interests."



[email protected] Lee Byung-cheol, correspondent Reporter