Trump and Xi Extend Trade Truce in Washington, But the Chinese Leader's Armored Limo Got More Attention Than the Deal

Since Xi Jinping and Donald Trump last met in Beijing in May, the two leaders held their second summit of the year this week when Xi arrived in Washington Wednesday evening for his first state visit to the United States in 11 years, according to NPR. The headline outcome was an extended trade truce, some gift-swapping, and vague acknowledgment that the two countries might work together on AI safety, per CNN. CNN called the meeting "heavy on pomp, light on substance" and noted that for Xi's purposes, that was probably fine.

No new tariff framework emerged. No breakthrough on Taiwan. No resolved rare earths fight.

The trade fight isn't over, it's paused

Underneath the state dinner and handshakes, both governments spent the summer taking shots at each other. The US slapped extra tariffs on Chinese exports over forced labor allegations, the Pentagon added Chinese tech giants to a military blacklist, and the FCC banned new imports of Chinese humanoid robots and robot dogs over national security concerns, NPR reported.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put it bluntly in a July Fox News interview: "Under the water, the Chinese seem to have done a lot of kicking lately. And you know, if we have to, we'll kick back."

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said this week that negotiators are still hashing out whether to extend a rare earths agreement, NPR reported. That's a real leverage point. China controls the bulk of global rare earth processing, and Wu Xinbo, who directs the American Studies Center at Shanghai's Fudan University, told NPR the relationship has grown "fragile" since May, even as both sides talk up "constructive strategic stability."

Zhang Yun, an international studies professor at Nanjing University, offered the more diplomatic read. Ups and downs are normal in a relationship this complicated, and the goal is building channels to manage friction as it comes up.

The press pool fight

Trump barred reporters from CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House press pool ahead of the visit. A court later overturned the ban, but the fight left major TV networks not airing the summit at all, CNN reported. That's a notable contrast with China's tightly scripted, government-approved state media coverage of the same trip, something CNN pointed out directly.

Whatever the merits of Trump's gripe with specific outlets, barring credentialed reporters from covering a presidential summit is the kind of move that deserves scrutiny regardless of who's in the Oval Office. A federal court agreed it went too far. That's a fact, not a partisan talking point.

The car show

What actually got attention was the hardware. Xi didn't rely on American-provided transportation. He brought his own: the Hongqi N701, a custom armored limousine built by FAW Group's Hongqi division specifically for China's top leadership, according to TechEBlog. It's an internal project, not something available to any buyer, on a reported production budget of roughly 572 million yuan, about $85.2 million, for an estimated 50 vehicles built per decade.

The car first appeared publicly in July 2022 during Xi's Hong Kong trip and has since traveled with him to Russia, Egypt, San Francisco, New Delhi for the BRICS summit, and now Washington, per TechEBlog and the Times of India. Then-President Joe Biden reportedly got a look at it in San Francisco in 2023 and called it "a beautiful vehicle," according to Vive USA.

Specifications remain officially classified. Insider estimates cited by TechEBlog put its weight above three tons, with a V8 or 6.0-liter V12 engine, run-flat tires, bulletproof glass, and a sealed cabin with air filtration. None of that has been confirmed by FAW.

Trump's ride, "The Beast," is a purpose-built Cadillac that entered service in 2018 at an estimated cost of $1.5 million, according to Vive USA. American media estimates put its weight between 6.8 and 9.1 tons, with doors reportedly comparable in weight to a Boeing 757's and run-flat tires. Vive USA put the Hongqi's price closer to $700,000, making it lighter and cheaper than the American vehicle, though Beijing has never released official figures.

The Times of India framed the limo as a metaphor: China no longer needs to borrow anyone's technology or hospitality, automotive or otherwise. Whether it translates into anything on trade, Taiwan, or the rare earths fight affects the price of everything from EV batteries to smartphones.

What's unresolved

The rare earths extension USTR Greer referenced hasn't been finalized. Xi returns to Beijing to prepare for the Communist Party Congress. Trump faces midterms in five weeks with inflation and the Iran war still weighing on him, per NPR. Neither leader walked away from Washington with a signed deal on the issues that actually matter to American manufacturers and consumers. The photo-op ended. The negotiating didn't.