00:00Scott Besson says they've agreed to extend the trade truce with China by an extra two months.
00:06So instead of expiring on November 10th, the new expiration date is January 10th.
00:12It gives negotiators, if you will, more time, an extra four months from today
00:17to essentially try and hammer out some of the more difficult challenges
00:21in a relationship fraught with many challenges.
00:24In fact, Scott Besson today met with his counterpart, He Liefeng, the vice premier of China, an extra time.
00:32Of course, they met Sunday in New York to hammer out some of the deliverables
00:36for the state visit for Xi Jinping to Washington.
00:39They met for another hour at the World Bank headquarters here in Washington
00:43because they still had some unfinished work.
00:46That was obviously to come up with this new extended deadline.
00:49Now, it's not as long a deadline extension that the Chinese perhaps wanted it.
00:55Sources say the Chinese were seeking an extension of at least one year, if not two years,
01:02because, again, the Chinese want more visibility, more stability in their relationship with the United States.
01:09Now that Xi Jinping has arrived here in Washington, the focus turns to the summit tomorrow,
01:15where the two sides can sit across from each other, Xi and Trump can really talk things through.
01:21They both want strategic stability.
01:24Getting there is going to take a little bit more time.
01:27They're also going to have a big gala dinner in the White House behind me tomorrow night,
01:32attended likely by many U.S. corporate titans, including those from technology.
01:37But, by all accounts, none or very few from the C-suite of China.
01:44Stephen Engel, Bloomberg News, Washington.
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