Washington and Beijing Publish Terms of Matched Tariff Cuts on $30 Billion of Goods Each Way

The United States and China have agreed to lower tariffs on roughly $30 billion of imports in each direction. The Financial Times describes the package as covering non-sensitive goods from foie gras to camels. The mechanism behind it is the bilateral Board of Trade, created after the Beijing summit in May and formally established during Xi Jinping's visit to Washington. The board gives both governments a standing venue for further tariff negotiations rather than a single, one-time settlement.

China's Ministry of Commerce detailed the terms in its own briefing. The two governments will grant reciprocal reductions on about $30 billion of imports each, measured against 2024 trade levels. For more than 90% of the listed products, all mutually imposed additional tariffs will be removed, so the goods revert to most-favored-nation rates, the ministry said. Beijing's list includes American farm products, personal care goods, medical devices, and coal. Washington's list includes Chinese toys, small appliances, baby products, kitchen and bathroom items, and holiday goods.

American coverage described the same package as an agreement reached after a three-day Washington summit, including preferential treatment for agricultural exports, fish and seafood, logs and wood products, cosmetics, and medical devices. Both accounts agree on what the deal leaves out: semiconductors, advanced manufacturing inputs, and export controls remain outside the lists, and the tariffs shaping industrial policy on both sides stay in place.

China's Commerce Ministry said on Monday that the two governments have also agreed to extend their broader bilateral trade truce by two months, moving its expiry from November 10 to January 10, 2027, which Reuters reported gives both sides a "relatively stable and predictable policy environment" to continue talks. The ministry linked the extension to a set of parallel commitments: a new agricultural working group due to hold its first meeting before the end of 2026, and a Chinese pledge to import 10 million metric tons of American coal annually in 2027 and 2028. Officials from both countries also said the new Board of Trade will take up a possible framework for reducing reciprocal tariffs on a further $300 billion of trade, a figure far larger than the $30 billion-for-$30 billion lists published Monday.

Measured against total trade between the two countries, the $30 billion-for-$30 billion volume covered by Monday's lists remains small, and both governments describe it as a first installment. What the deal actually establishes is a procedural channel for negotiation, which matters more than the individual product lines, because it lets each side trade concessions without requiring a leader-level summit each time. The truce extension to January adds a longer runway to that process, though the tariffs shaping semiconductors and other strategic sectors remain untouched.