China vows to keep negotiating to extend US trade truce, seeks $30B deal

China said on May 20 it would keep negotiating with Washington to extend the current trade truce and would accept some increase in U.S. Section 301 tariffs up to a level agreed last year. Bloomberg reported that stance as Beijing’s clearest signal yet that it is prepared to manage the dispute rather than force an immediate rollback of all Trump-era trade measures. U.S. and Chinese officials are also weighing matching tariff cuts covering at least $30 billion of goods on each side, according to a separate report that said rare earths, Boeing aircraft orders and beef trade are back on the agenda. The same report said the two governments would use a trade committee to review equal-value tariff reductions and consider most-favored-nation rates or lower duties for some items. (bloomberg.com) The latest moves follow President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week, which produced no broad new settlement. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on May 20 that “no major breakthrough” had been achieved at the meeting, according to Reuters. (en.bloomingbit.io) ### Why is Beijing willing to live with some higher U.S. tariffs? Bloomberg reported that China indicated it could tolerate a rise in U.S. tariffs to the level agreed last year if that helped preserve the truce and keep talks going. That suggests Beijing is prioritizing continuity in negotiations over an immediate fight over every tariff line. (usnews.com) A Reuters report published on May 19 said the United States was “not in a hurry” to extend the truce, and that the current arrangement had reduced extra tariffs on Chinese goods to about 20%, on top of roughly 25% duties on many industrial products from Trump’s first term. That report also said the truce expires later this year. (bloomberg.com) ### What is in the proposed $30 billion package? Reuters reported on May 13 that Washington and Beijing were considering a managed-trade mechanism for non-sensitive goods, with each side identifying about $30 billion of imports for possible tariff reductions. The report said the idea was to expand trade without crossing national-security red lines. (usnews.com) Bloomingbit reported on May 20 that the package under discussion includes tariff cuts of equal value and talks over export controls on rare earths and other critical minerals. The report also said China would move ahead with issues tied to market access and industrial purchases. ### Why are rare earths, Boeing and beef back in the talks? (usnews.com) Rare earths are back because export controls on critical minerals have become one of the most sensitive parts of the U.S.-China economic relationship. Reuters and other reports ahead of the summit said rare earths were already on the leaders’ agenda in Beijing. (en.bloomingbit.io) Boeing orders and beef matter because they are visible, quantifiable items that can be folded into a narrower trade arrangement. Bloomberg’s opinion coverage of the summit said both sides’ readouts included agreement that China would increase imports of U.S. farm products and aircraft. (usnews.com) ### Did the Trump-Xi summit actually produce a deal? The Beijing summit produced incremental trade discussions, not a full reset. Guterres said in Tokyo that there had been “no major breakthrough,” while Reuters reported that a reciprocal Xi visit to Washington on September 24 has taken on added importance. (bloomberg.com) Chinese and U.S. reporting since the summit has pointed instead to extensions, committees and sector-specific bargaining. CNBC reported on May 16 that Beijing and Washington had agreed to expand agricultural trade through tariff reductions, while Bloomberg and Bloomingbit later described the follow-up as continued negotiation over tariff ceilings and a $30 billion matching package. (usnews.com) ### What should readers watch next? The next test is whether Washington and Beijing formally extend the truce before it expires later this year. Reuters reported that the current arrangement was negotiated over several months last year and prevented tariffs from climbing back into triple-digit territory. (cnbc.com) A second marker is whether the trade committee produces a concrete list of goods for the proposed $30 billion tariff cuts and whether rare earths, Boeing deliveries and beef access are included. Xi’s planned reciprocal visit to Washington on September 24 is the next named political milestone in that process, according to Reuters. (en.bloomingbit.io) (usnews.com)