SCMP reports Trump and Xi may meet in Beijing in early April and extend their trade truce by up to a year, including further tariff rollback and new Chinese purchase pledges. China has resumed US soybean buys ahead of the summit.
Summary:
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Trump and Xi are expected to meet in Beijing in early April, per the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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Officials are said to be weighing extending the Busan trade truce by up to a year, potentially rolling back tariffs/export controls further.
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China has resumed US soybean purchases, a politically sensitive US export, and fresh purchase commitments are being discussed.
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The summit is framed around short-term economic “wins”, with Trump seeking tangible deliverables ahead of November midterms.
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Planning details cited include an early-April trip and a possible March 31 arrival for a roughly three-day visit
US and Chinese officials are expected to use an early-April Beijing summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to extend the bilateral trade truce reached in South Korea last year, according to the South China Morning Post. The report says policymakers are discussing rolling back some tariffs and export controls for up to a year, building on the October Busan understanding that eased a period of escalating tit-for-tat measures.
The October truce was struck after months of intensifying trade conflict that included triple-digit retaliatory tariffs and a broad Chinese boycott of US agricultural goods for much of 2025, SCMP reports. Since the reprieve, China has resumed purchases of American soybeans — a politically important US crop — and additional near-term purchase commitments are said to be central to what officials see as a realistic, “bankable” summit outcome.
For Washington, deliverables matter. The SCMP report frames the talks as an attempt to stabilise economic ties and deliver short-term wins ahead of the US midterm elections in November, with Trump under pressure to show progress while managing broader strategic tensions. Trump has publicly flagged soybean buying as a potential outcome following a recent call with Xi, aligning with the idea that Beijing may lean on commodity purchases as a relatively low-friction confidence-building tool.
Operationally, SCMP says preparations point to an early-April trip, with March 31 cited as an initial arrival date under consideration and a bilateral meeting in the first week of April as part of a visit lasting about three days. If the extension is agreed, markets are likely to read it as a volatility dampener near term — but not a full reset — given the truce appears informal and subject to political timelines on both sides.
Credit: South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Pic from when the two met in Busan, South Korea, last year.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.
