And so the Trump-Xi summit this week delivered what markets probably needed most. That being no fresh escalation between the two largest economies in the world. But beyond that, there wasn't much of any breakthrough either.The clearest takeaway is the extension of the existing US-China trade truce by another two months to 10 January. That keeps the existing tariffs regime in place and gives both sides more time to negotiate what Bessent has described as a potentially broader agreement.So for now though, the difficult issues haven't really gone anywhere.The US still wants China to step up agricultural purchases and to meet its commitments, while also raising concerns that China's rare earth deliveries have fallen short. And honestly, that is hardly surprising given China's previous track record and how we saw the Phase One trade deal unfolded back in 2018-19.Rare earths and critical minerals are also one of Beijing's strongest pieces of leverage, given their strong grip over control of the market. So, that is one card that they might want to keep close to their chest.Besides that, technology remains another major dividing line. Trump continued to favour a relatively light-touch approach toward AI development, while Xi used the summit to stress the need to manage AI risks instead. Meanwhile, the broader contest over chips, export controls and technological leadership remains unresolved.And lastly, there is the issue of Taiwan. Once again, Xi urged Washington to handle the issue with "prudence" but there was no indication of any meaningful shift in the US position.Overall, I think that leaves us with something closer to stability rather than any major resolution.The good news at least is that the immediate tail risk of another tariff escalation has been pushed further out, which is supportive for risk sentiment.However, the January deadline simply becomes the next pressure point now. Until there is a durable agreement on tariffs, rare earths and technology, investors are still very much just trading a truce rather than the end of the US-China trade war. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.