Trump meets Xi in Beijing, weighs $30B tariff cuts

President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday as U.S. and Chinese officials weighed a plan to reduce tariffs on roughly $30 billion of imports from each side under a narrower managed-trade framework. The proposal would apply to what officials describe as non-sensitive goods, while leaving broader tariffs and export controls in place for sectors tied to national security. Reuters reported on May 13 that the plan had emerged as a possible deliverable for the Beijing summit, citing four people familiar with the administration’s objectives. The talks come after a trade fight that at one point drove U.S. tariffs on some Chinese goods to about 145% and pushed bilateral commerce into a sharp slump. ### Why are Trump and Xi talking about only a slice of trade? U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer first floated the idea of a “Board of Trade” in March as a way to manage commerce in non-sensitive goods rather than try to rewrite China’s economic model. Reuters reported that the mechanism would focus on numerical trading targets in sectors that do not cross U.S. or Chinese national-security red lines. Greer told Fox Business last week that Washington was no longer approaching the talks as an effort to make China govern its economy like the United States. (usnews.com) The Reuters report said the shift is significant because earlier U.S.-China trade talks often centered on demands that Beijing curb state-led industrial policies, subsidies and export-led manufacturing. In the current talks, the emphasis is narrower: identify goods each side can still trade more freely and lower barriers on those items without reopening the full fight over chips, advanced technology and other strategic sectors. (usnews.com) ### What does the $30 billion figure actually refer to? Four people familiar with the Trump administration’s objectives told Reuters they expected a framework built around about $30 billion in trade-barrier reductions from each side. Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator who now heads the Asia Society Policy Center, said the two governments were “coalescing around” a $30 billion to $50 billion basket of goods for reduced tariffs or other barriers. (usnews.com) Reuters reported that it was still unclear whether Trump and Xi would identify specific products in Beijing or leave that work to later meetings. The proposed basket is small relative to the overall U.S.-China trading relationship. Cutler said the non-sensitive category now represents only a limited part of total bilateral trade, according to Reuters’ account of her remarks at an Asia Society forum on Tuesday. ### How did the tariff fight get to this point? (usnews.com) The White House said after a Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea on Nov. 1, 2025, that China would suspend retaliatory tariffs announced since March 4, 2025, while the United States and China pursued a broader economic deal. That agreement also covered rare earths, fentanyl precursors and agricultural purchases, according to a White House fact sheet. (usnews.com) The New York Times reported on May 13 that a trade war that once threatened to freeze commerce had given way to what it called an uneasy truce before this week’s summit. AP reported the tariff war had sent U.S.-China trade into a freefall and forced companies on both sides of the Pacific to regroup. Separate research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research and CEPR this year said the 2025 tariff shock accelerated supply-chain reallocation, with countries including Vietnam and Mexico gaining share as direct imports from China fell. (whitehouse.gov) ### What else is on the table in Beijing? AP reported that trade is only one part of the Beijing agenda, with Iran, Taiwan and U.S. arms sales also hanging over the summit. Reuters said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met for three hours in Incheon, South Korea, on Wednesday to prepare economic proposals for Trump and Xi. No joint statement was issued after that meeting. (nytimes.com) The White House and Chinese officials have not yet publicly released a detailed list of goods that would qualify for tariff relief under the proposed mechanism. Reuters reported that the next step may be subsequent meetings by economic officials if Trump and Xi endorse the framework in principle in Beijing. (apnews.com) ### What should readers watch next? Any formal readout from Beijing will matter because Reuters reported that the goods list may not be finalized during the summit itself. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are the officials most directly tied to the economic framework described ahead of the meeting. If the two presidents sign off only on a broad mechanism, the details on product coverage, tariff rates and timing would likely emerge in follow-on talks after May 14 and May 15 in Beijing. (usnews.com)