US and China Agree to Cut Tariffs on $30B in Trade After Trump-Xi Summit

The U.S. and China have agreed to lower tariffs on $30 billion in less sensitive trade in both directions, the clearest commercial result of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping’s three-day summit in Washington.

The White House said Saturday the agreement would cover U.S. agricultural and medical exports, as well as Chinese small appliances and toys.

Neither government specified the tariff rates that would apply or when the reductions would take effect.

A Limited Trade Agreement

China’s foreign ministry included the tariff arrangement in an eight-point account of the summit.

It said the two sides also endorsed creating a trade council and agreed to continue work from earlier negotiations in Kuala Lumpur.

The tariff cuts follow a separate decision to extend the U.S.-China trade truce until mid-January, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

That extension gives negotiators more time to pursue a broader agreement after a period when tariffs between the two countries rose into triple digits.

The tariff deal offers relief for a defined group of goods. Statements issued after the summit did not announce a broader rollback of trade barriers.

Supply chains remain on the agenda.

The White House said the countries were continuing to work through issues involving rare earths, whose exports Beijing had restricted during earlier trade tensions.

China’s statement did not address the materials.

AI Channel Planned

Washington and Beijing also agreed to begin a bilateral dialogue on artificial intelligence in November.

China’s foreign ministry said the talks would examine the technology’s risks and benefits, while both governments confirmed plans for a channel to communicate about AI-related incidents.

Neither side explained how that channel would work. The agreement nevertheless puts AI alongside trade as a subject for direct discussion between the two governments.

Trump and Xi plan to meet twice more this year: at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen in November and at the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.

Both governments said they would support the other’s hosting of those meetings.

Wider Disputes Remain

The statements also addressed Iran and international waterways.

Both sides said Iran should not develop a nuclear weapon and that no country or entity should charge tolls for passage through international waterways, amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during fighting between the U.S. and Iran.

The White House cited progress on cooperation against narcotics trafficking and acknowledged recent Chinese restrictions on exports of two chemicals used to make fentanyl.

The flow of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals from China to the U.S. has long been a source of friction.

Those points sat alongside unresolved tensions over Taiwan, AI and critical supply chains.

The summit produced commitments to keep talking, but its most concrete economic measure was the tariff arrangement covering $30 billion in trade.

China described the leaders’ goal as a “constructive relationship of strategic stability.”

For businesses trading the goods named in the agreement, the practical effect will depend on the tariff rates and implementation timetable that the two governments have yet to set out.