[SNAP ANALYSIS] US President Trump and Chinese President Xi speak at the state banquet

Trump/Xi optics were deliberately constructive. Both leaders framed the relationship as strategically indispensable and economically complementary, with Xi directly linking “China's rejuvenation” and “Make America Great Again” as compatible themes. Trump reinforced that tone by describing talks as “extremely positive and productive” and emphasising shared prosperity potential. Further, Trump invited Chinese President Xi to the White House for September 24th.
The key takeaway from the summit thus far is that both sides are signalling stabilisation rather than escalation. Importantly, Trump avoided mentioning Iran entirely, suggesting Washington wanted to keep the event tightly focused on bilateral economics and geopolitical de-escalation with Beijing rather than publicly introducing additional friction points.
At the same time, US Treasury Secretary Bessent’s comments provided some policy substance. His reference to starting with “USD 30bln” in “un-tariffing” Chinese trade aligns with Wednesday's reports and signals the administration is actively exploring a phased tariff rollback framework rather than maintaining a fully hardline posture. As a reminder, Reuters sources yesterday said the US and China are said to be weighing tariff cuts on USD 30bln of imports, and added that Presidents Trump and Xi are to discuss a managed trade push in Beijing. The source added that the US is shifting its focus to numerical trade targets over model reform.
On semiconductors, Bessent pushed back against reports surrounding potential approval of NVIDIA H200 chip sales to Chinese firms, saying such approvals “would be news to him.” Earlier sources suggested the US has reportedly approved around 10 Chinese firms to buy NVIDIA H200 chips.
Bessent also said “soybeans are all taken care of”, while he expects “large Boeing orders”.
Net/net: the tone was clearly constructive, but tangible policy progress still appears limited for now.