US President Donald Trump walked onto the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, a military airfield outside Washington, on Wednesday, September 23, to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping as he landed for a three-day state visit, according to the ABC. As the welcome unfolded, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Fox News that Washington and Beijing had agreed to extend their tariff trade truce until January 10, 2027, CBC News reported.
The truce had been due to lapse on November 10. Its extension pushes the next possible tariff escalation between the world’s two largest economies out by two months.
A note on this story’s Pacific angle. None of the reports it draws on — the ABC, CBC News, AFP or the Associated Press — mentions the Pacific Islands. No Pacific issue is listed on the agenda, no Pacific leader is reported to be attending, and no Fijian official, Reserve Bank of Fiji economist or Pacific Islands Forum statement on the extension was on the public record when this story was published. Rather than fill that gap with inference about freight rates or exchange rates, the sections below set out what is documented: the reported agenda, the one agenda item with a verifiable Pacific record, and this outlet’s own earlier reporting on how great-power courtship is already being argued over in Fiji. Where something is background rather than this week’s reporting, it is labelled as such.
Key facts
- Trump and first lady Melania Trump shook hands with Mr Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the foot of the aircraft steps, the ABC reports.
- CBC News reports a 30-metre red carpet was unfurled at the plane door, flanked by a 21-person honour guard, with platoons from each military service and the flags and anthems of both countries; the temperature was a relatively warm 17C and Trump removed one glove to shake Mr Xi’s hand.
- Two B-1 bombers staged a flyover, and six F-22 and six F-16 fighter jets were lined up on the tarmac, according to the ABC.
- Apart from papal visits, the last comparable presidential welcomes at Andrews are believed to be in 1962 and 1959, the ABC reports.
- Bessent said the truce, under which both countries scaled back tariffs and agreed not to impose new trade restrictions, had been due to expire on November 10, CBC News reports.
- The extension runs to January 10, 2027, with further leader-level meetings reported for China in November and Florida in December, according to CBC News.
- It is Mr Xi’s first state visit to the United States in more than a decade, the Associated Press reported via 13newsnow.
What is on the agenda — and what is not
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two countries must interact at the highest levels because they are the two largest economies in the world and probably the two most powerful militaries, CBC News reports. Trade, artificial intelligence, Trump’s war with Iran and China’s designs on Taiwan are all expected on the agenda, according to the same report.
Both the ABC and CBC News report that expectations of a major breakthrough are low, with much of the visit expected to be more about pomp than substance. Jonathan Czin of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, told AFP he expected some extension of what he called the gentleman’s agreement, the ABC reports. On that reading, the headline deliverable of a three-day state visit is a two-month stay of execution on tariffs.
What is not on the reported agenda is as relevant to readers in Suva as what is. Neither wire report lists Pacific security arrangements, development finance, fisheries, climate finance or any Pacific leader’s presence. Any regional consequence of this week runs through the four listed items, not through a Pacific line on the programme.
The trade truce extension
Why only two months
Bessent said he did not know whether a bigger deal could be done or whether the current one would simply be rolled over, according to CBC News. Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator now at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told CBC the short extension underscores continuing US concern about China’s implementation of its truce commitments, particularly on critical mineral exports and agricultural purchases. CBC also reports Beijing had wanted a longer extension.
Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a US policy institute, said the tight timeframe was less about buying two months of calm than making China earn the next extension, CBC News reports.
What Beijing said
In a written statement released by the Chinese embassy, Mr Xi said the two countries “should be partners, not rivals,” the ABC reports, noting the statement made no mention of a trade deal.
The practical effect, on the reporting available, is a short leash rather than a settlement: two more months of the existing tariff levels, two more scheduled meetings, and a January 10 date at which the same argument — minerals, farm purchases, enforcement — has to be had again. None of the cited reports quantifies the effect of either outcome on third countries.
What this means for Fiji — and what is not yet known
No Fiji reaction on the record
At the time of publication there was no statement from Fiji’s Ministry of Finance and Trade, the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Fiji Airways or the Pacific Islands Forum secretariat on the truce extension, and none of the reports cited here carries reaction from any Pacific government. It is a plain fact that Pacific island states are net importers of fuel, food and manufactured goods; it is not a reported fact that this particular two-month extension will move the price of any of them, and this article does not claim it will. What can be said is that the question has not been answered publicly by anyone in a position to answer it. This story will be updated if Fijian officials or regional economists comment, and readers with sourced figures are invited to send them.
Taiwan: the one agenda item with a documented Pacific record
CBC News reports China’s designs on Taiwan are expected to be raised. That is the agenda item with the clearest regional paper trail, though the trail is background rather than this week’s reporting. As a matter of public record, three of Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic partners are Pacific island states — the Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu. Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched recognition to Beijing in September 2019, and Nauru did so in January 2024. Fiji recognises the People’s Republic of China. No Pacific capital changed position this week, and neither the ABC nor CBC reports any Taiwan-related Pacific element to the talks; what the record shows is simply that recognition decisions in this region have been live within the past seven years, which is why language used about Taiwan at leader level is read closely here.
The contest for standing
Danny Russel — a former US diplomat under President Barack Obama, now at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and named as such by CBC News — told CBC the airport pageantry delivered a propaganda win for Beijing that showed Mr Xi’s growing stature. Whether that standing converts into anything in the Pacific is not addressed in the reports. What this outlet has reported directly is that the pace of great-power and partner agreements is already contested inside Fiji: a Fiji chief’s warning to MPs not to rush security treaties with Australia was an argument about how quickly a small state should commit to a large partner, made in Fiji, on the record. That debate is domestic and documented; it is not a consequence of Wednesday’s ceremony, and is offered here as context on the question, not as a reaction to it.
AI rule-setting, with no Pacific seat
The ABC reports preliminary talks on Sunday between Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng included discussion of creating a communication channel for AI concerns. If such a channel is opened, it will by definition be bilateral: the reports describe two governments, with no third-party or multilateral participation mentioned. Nothing in the reporting indicates what, if anything, would follow for smaller states.
AI, Iran and the guest list
The ABC reports the leaders will confront fears, boosted by warnings from technology chief executives, that artificial intelligence risks wiping out humanity — though with both countries racing for AI supremacy, few expect a deal to regulate the technology. Further “substantive” talks were held on Wednesday, the ABC reports.
Two sources told AFP there were no Chinese chief executives in Mr Xi’s delegation, even though top US tech bosses are due at Thursday’s state banquet, according to the ABC. Mr Xi was accompanied by senior official Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Chinese state media reported. The asymmetry is on the face of the two guest lists: a US one built around technology executives, and a Chinese delegation built around party and foreign-policy officials.
The welcome drew criticism from within Trump’s own party. Republican Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticised the lavish reception and said Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader given troubling issues with Mr Xi and the Chinese Communist Party, according to CBC News and Independent Journal Review. The ABC reports the criticism comes amid reports Beijing supplied Iran with intelligence for attacks on US troops; Trump has played down the need to raise the allegations, saying both countries spy on each other.
Precedent and press access
CBC News reports Trump was seeking to match the reception he was given in China earlier this year, when a red carpet, a military honour guard, a band and about 300 young people waving flags met Air Force One in Beijing — although Mr Xi did not go to the airport, and the ABC notes Trump was denied a personal airport greeting on that May visit. Melania Trump told Fox & Friends her husband chose to greet Mr Xi personally because of their relationship, CBC reports.
The visit is also unfolding during what the ABC calls an unprecedented dispute between the White House and the US news media: CNN, MS NOW and Politico were barred from the grounds last week and have sued, and a judge said on Wednesday he would rule soon on reinstating credentials. The practical effect on this event is that, with the television press pool’s coverage suspended, the ABC reports the tarmac greeting was not broadcast live on many US outlets, leaving one of the year’s more consequential diplomatic encounters with less independent video record. Press-access questions are live in this region too, including calls at the PINA summit for stronger protection of journalists.
What to watch next
Three dates now carry the story, all from CBC News’s reporting: a leaders’ meeting in China in November, another in Florida in December, and the January 10, 2027 expiry of the extended truce. For readers in Fiji, the second thing to watch is closer to home and currently missing: any comment from the Ministry of Finance and Trade, the Reserve Bank of Fiji or the Forum secretariat on what, if anything, the outcome of those three dates means for this region. Until that exists, the honest position is that the effect on Fiji is unquantified rather than negligible — and this outlet will report it when someone with the figures puts them on the record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Pacific on the agenda for the Trump-Xi state visit?
No. The ABC and CBC News list trade, artificial intelligence, Trump’s war with Iran and Taiwan as the expected agenda items. Neither report mentions Pacific Islands issues, Pacific security arrangements or any Pacific leader attending. Where this article discusses regional relevance, it does so through one item with a documented Pacific record — Taiwan’s diplomatic recognition — and through this outlet’s own earlier reporting on great-power courtship in Fiji, and it says so each time.
Has the Fijian government or the Reserve Bank of Fiji responded to the truce extension?
Not on the public record at the time of writing. None of the reports this article draws on — the ABC, CBC News, AFP or the Associated Press — carries any Pacific government reaction, and no statement from the Ministry of Finance and Trade, the Reserve Bank of Fiji or the Pacific Islands Forum secretariat on the extension had been published when this story went out. This article does not substitute an estimate of the effect on Fiji for that missing comment. The story will be updated if Fijian officials or regional economists respond.
What are the dates that matter in the tariff truce extension?
CBC News reports that the truce was due to expire on November 10 and has now been extended to January 10, 2027. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News, as reported by CBC, that the extra time could let the two leaders keep talking at upcoming meetings in China in November and in Florida in December. That sets up three checkpoints — November, December and the January 10 deadline — before tariffs could snap back.
Which Pacific countries recognise Taiwan?
As a matter of public record, three Pacific island states — the Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu — maintain diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, while Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched recognition to Beijing in September 2019 and Nauru did so in January 2024. Fiji recognises the People’s Republic of China. This is background, not something reported from Washington this week; CBC News reports only that Taiwan is expected on the leaders’ agenda.
Do analysts expect a major breakthrough from this visit?
No. Both the ABC and CBC News report expectations of a breakthrough are low and that much of the visit is expected to be more about pomp than substance. Jonathan Czin of the Brookings Institution told AFP he expected some extension of what he called the gentleman’s agreement, the ABC reports. Wendy Cutler of the Asia Society Policy Institute told CBC the short length of the extension underscores continuing US concern about China’s implementation of its truce commitments.
What is scheduled for the rest of the state visit?
According to CBC News, Thursday includes a White House arrival ceremony, a review of troops and a black-tie dinner where the two leaders will exchange toasts, with guests including Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and SpaceX’s Elon Musk. The ABC reports Thursday also features another flyover. On Friday morning the two presidential couples are to have tea at the White House before touring the National Archives, home of the US Declaration of Independence.
When did a US president last greet a visiting leader at Joint Base Andrews?
The ABC reports that, apart from papal visits, the last such welcomes at Andrews are believed to be John F Kennedy’s greeting for British prime minister Harold Macmillan in 1962 and Dwight D Eisenhower’s for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1959. Both the ABC and CBC note Trump also met Russian President Vladimir Putin planeside at a US air base in Alaska, which the ABC dates to last year and CBC to last summer.
