Trump Administration Establishes US-China Board of Trade for Balanced Trade

The Trump administration is establishing a US-China Board of Trade to optimise bilateral trade in non-sensitive products, initiating a public comment process on a mechanism to promote balanced and reciprocal trade with China.

Washington: The Trump administration is establishing a US-China Board of Trade to optimise bilateral trade in non-sensitive products, initiating a public comment process on a mechanism to promote balanced and reciprocal trade with China. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the development of this new government-to-government mechanism, intended to manage bilateral trade between the United States and China on an ongoing basis and consider certain tariff modifications between the countries.

"While robust tariffs remain in place to combat China's unfair trading practices and defend US interests, going forward, seeking balanced trade with China in key sectors and products can bring stability to this economic relationship," USTR said on X.

According to USTR, public comments are being sought on specific types of non-sensitive products that could potentially benefit from tariff modifications on each side. The deadline for submission of comments is July 10, 2026, and any rebuttals or responses to those comments may be submitted to a separate public docket by July 27, 2026.

"Under President Trump's leadership, the United States and China have established a Board of Trade to ensure that trade with China is more balanced and beneficial for Americans," said Ambassador Greer.

"The Trump Administration will work with stakeholders to identify non-sensitive goods trade that can deliver results for American farmers, ranchers, fishermen, small businesses, manufacturers, and workers," Greer said, while adding, "We welcome comments from interested parties on effective ways to facilitate mutually beneficial trade with China while continuing to use tariffs to defend American economic and national security and promote balanced and reciprocal trade."

A Federal Register notice detailed that the US-China Board of Trade will function as an "adapter" mechanism to promote reciprocity, durability, and balance in the trade relationship.

"As long as China maintains its non-market policies and practices and refuses to provide reciprocal treatment to US exports--such as disregard for intellectual property rights, subsidies and other industrial policies creating systemic overcapacity and overproduction in industrial sectors, diverse and deeply entrenched market access barriers, and lack of regulatory transparency--the United States likely will continue to rely on tariffs and other tools to manage trade with China," the Federal Register notice said.

"However, through the US-China Board of Trade, the United States and China will consider tariff modifications on imports of an equal value of non-sensitive goods from each side, while monitoring and evaluating outcomes over time," the notice added.

Under this approach, each side would identify non-sensitive products and come to an agreement to modify certain non-MFN tariffs imposed by the other side. The United States envisions that additional tariffs imposed through certain US authorities could be favorably modified as a result of the negotiations, provided that any modifications would not conflict with US law or economic or national security interests.

The Federal Register notice further noted that "Meanwhile, China would be expected to modify tariffs that it has imposed on the United States. If such an arrangement can be negotiated successfully, the United States can monitor and evaluate certain US-China trade flows based on a fixed amount of trade."