According to CNBC, American businesses ramped up orders for Chinese goods in the weeks before this week's summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and China Beige Book said the increase was a surprise as shipments to the U.S. rose on both a yearly and monthly basis. The New York-based research firm, which surveyed 1,296 Chinese companies between Sept. 1-22, said the gauge for U.S. orders climbed to 13 in September from negative-12 a year earlier and 3 in August. Overall Chinese domestic and export orders remained below year-earlier levels, and new orders weakened from August. The U.S. and China agreed to extend a trade truce by two months to January, keeping tariffs lower, suspending restrictive controls on rare earth exports and delaying higher port fees on ships. Barclays said the effective U.S. tariff rate on Chinese goods remains around 23%, above the average levy on other major trading partners.