Private survey shows surprise jump in U.S. orders for Chinese goods before Trump-Xi summit

China Beige Book surveyed 1,296 Chinese firms from Sept. 1-22 and found a surprise rebound in U.S. orders. Its U.S. order gauge rose to 13 in September, from -12 a year earlier and 3 in August, as China's relative tariff position improved. Overall orders stayed below year-earlier levels and weakened from August. The shift came before Donald Trump's Washington summit with Xi Jinping and a two-month extension of a trade truce to January that keeps tariffs lower and suspends some rare-earth export controls.