The White House announced on Sunday (September 27) a list of products for which China and the United States will reduce mutual tariffs. Under an agreement involving a trade volume of US$30 billion in each direction, these products are expected to enjoy tariff reductions, but the list does not specify the tariff rate or implementation timetable.
U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit in Washington last week. The topics of the talks covered trade and other matters.
On the day Xi Jinping concluded his visit to Washington, the White House announced on Friday that the United States and China had reached consensus on relevant "proposals" to provide more preferential tariff treatment for "non-sensitive goods." Beijing confirmed the agreement on Saturday.
According to news released by China's Ministry of Commerce on its official website on Monday, the two sides agreed to provide reduced tariffs on a reciprocal basis for each other's imported products worth approximately US$30 billion, with more than 90% of the products exempted from all mutually imposed tariffs and enjoying most-favored-nation tariff treatment. The United States will reduce tariffs on toys, home appliances, baby products, kitchen and bathroom supplies, holiday gifts and other products imported from China, and China will reduce tariffs on US agricultural products, personal care products, medical equipment, coal and other products.
The Ministry of Commerce stated that this arrangement will help stabilize Sino-US trade and create better conditions for the export of Chinese related products to the United States. The notification also stated that China’s coal import tariffs from the United States will be included in the “30 billion to 30 billion” reciprocal tax reduction framework.
However, soybeans, a major imported commodity, were not included in the tax reduction list announced by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Monday, and U.S. soybeans still face an additional 10% tariff. According to Reuters calculations, the trade volume of agricultural products and related products listed on Monday's list is approximately US$17 billion (in 2024), which is roughly equivalent to China's announced purchase commitments (excluding soybeans).
Previously, China and the United States experienced a tit-for-tat trade dispute, during which tariff rates once soared to more than 100%; Xi Jinping and Trump reached a trade truce consensus during their meeting in Busan, South Korea last year. The agreement was originally scheduled to expire in November, but according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the two sides have agreed to extend it until January 10.
Beijing also confirmed on Monday that the Sino-US trade truce was extended to January 10. On the 28th, the Ministry of Commerce of China released an interpretation of the results of the eighth round of Sino-US economic and trade consultations by the head of the Department of Commerce and Oceania. He said that the arrangement for the extension of the trade truce "on the one hand provides space for both parties to take stock and evaluate the implementation of the joint arrangement and think about how to promote Sino-US economic and trade relations in the next step. On the other hand, through a combination of a certain period of extension and continued active discussions, it provides a relatively stable and predictable policy environment for the cooperation between enterprises of both parties."
The person in charge also said, "I believe that both parties will continue to work hard and find a positive solution to the continued extension through high-level economic and trade interactions before the end of the year."
