The United States and China have pledged to lower tariffs for $60 billion worth of goods, spanning more nearly 1,700 products combined between the two countries.
According to the Associated Press, eligible goods will include American agricultural commodities, personal care products, timber and medical equipment, as well as Chinese fireworks, tableware, toys, Christmas ornaments and soccer balls. The list does not include raw materials considered to be "sensitive," such as rare earth minerals and other technologies used for developing advanced artificial intelligence.
The reduced tariffs are part of a larger initiative to continue growing the U.S.-China Board of Trade, which was formed in May as a means to manage bilateral trade relations. Although the U.S. and China have approved the initial list of products for tariff relief, each side will still have to take steps to enact the actual tariff changes, including which duties will be reduced, the new rates and their effective dates. Any changes to Section 301 duties — which have been used by the Trump administration to target unfair trade practices — would also require a U.S. Trade Representative notice, while China would need a corresponding announcement from its Customs Tariff Commission.
The agreement comes after a week-long summit in Washington, D.C. between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Shortly before the start of that summit, China and the U.S. agreed to extend a trade truce that had been set to expire on November 10, which will continue to preserve an earlier pause on broader tariff hikes, and China’s pledge to ease certain rare earth export restrictions.
