China pledges talks on tariff cuts and expanded U.S. farm access after Trump‑Xi summit

China’s commerce ministry said on Saturday that Beijing and Washington had agreed to expand agricultural trade through tariff reductions and to address non-tariff barriers and market-access issues after this week’s summit between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The ministry said the arrangements were “preliminary” and would be finalized “as soon as possible.” It did not identify the products covered or say how large any tariff cuts would be. (kfgo.com) The announcement put agriculture at the center of the first concrete follow-up from the Beijing talks. (kfgo.com) U.S. farm exports to China fell 65.7% year on year to $8.4 billion in 2025, according to data cited by Reuters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, after rounds of retaliatory tariffs curbed trade. China’s farm imports from the United States still face an additional 10% levy, the Reuters report said. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday that Washington expected China to buy “double-digit billions” of U.S. farm goods over the next three years, though neither side has released targets by commodity, value or volume. (kfgo.com) U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on X that China had agreed to implement beef commitments that include resuming imports from 17 U.S. states. ### What did China actually say it would do? China’s commerce ministry said both sides aimed to promote two-way trade, including in agricultural products, through reciprocal tariff reductions across a range of goods. (kfgo.com) The ministry also said the two governments agreed to “resolve or make substantive progress” on non-tariff barriers and market-access issues. Beijing said it would work on U.S. concerns over registration of beef facilities and poultry exports from certain U.S. states. On Friday, China granted five-year registration extensions to 425 U.S. beef plants whose registrations had largely lapsed last year, and approved new five-year registrations for 77 additional U.S. facilities, according to the Reuters report. (kfgo.com) ### Why is agriculture the first area in focus? The 2025 collapse in U.S. farm exports to China left agriculture as one of the clearest areas for an early, measurable change. (kfgo.com) Reuters reported that China resumed purchases of some U.S. farm goods after an October meeting and met a U.S.-stated commitment to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans by the end of February. China also bought some U.S. wheat cargoes and large volumes of sorghum, according to the report. Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting, told Reuters that tariff cuts on agricultural products would amount to a normalization of China-U.S. farm trade by allowing commercial buyers back into the market. (kfgo.com) Reuters reported that private Chinese crushers were largely sidelined during last year’s U.S. harvest while state crop traders remained the main buyers. ### Are the tariff cuts settled? The answer from both the wording and the missing details is no. China’s commerce ministry described the arrangements as preliminary and said they would be finalized later. (kfgo.com) The ministry did not specify which goods would receive tariff reductions. The New York Times separately reported that China said the countries had struck a preliminary agreement to reduce some tariffs, a formulation that underscored how limited the public details remain. No joint text released publicly in the available reporting set out the tariff schedule, implementation date or enforcement mechanism. (kfgo.com) ### How big is the wider trade relationship now? U.S. Census Bureau data show total U.S. goods exports to China fell to $106.3 billion in 2025 from $143.2 billion in 2024. U.S. imports from China were $308.4 billion in 2025, down from $438.7 billion a year earlier. (kfgo.com) Those figures show the farm discussions are unfolding inside a broader trade relationship that remains far below 2024 levels. The agriculture channel matters politically because purchases can be counted quickly, but the official statements released so far do not amount to a wider reset of the bilateral trade regime. (nytimes.com) That narrower reading comes from the ministry’s own description of the measures as preliminary and product-specific. ### What should readers watch next? The next test is whether Beijing and Washington publish product lists, tariff rates and implementation dates. (census.gov) China’s commerce ministry said the arrangements would be finalized “as soon as possible,” but gave no deadline. Any near-term movement is likely to show up first in soybean, beef, sorghum and wheat trade flows, and in additional registration notices for U.S. meat facilities. USTR and the U.S. Agriculture Department are the named U.S. agencies to watch for formal follow-up, while China’s commerce ministry has so far provided the most specific public description of the talks. (kfgo.com)