U.S.-China agree preliminary trade steps

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping emerged from talks in Beijing with a set of preliminary trade steps that both governments cast as progress, though each side highlighted different parts of the package. The White House on May 17 said China agreed to buy at least $17 billion a year of U.S. agricultural products in 2026 through 2028, address U.S. concerns over rare-earth and critical-mineral supply shortages, and approve an initial purchase of 200 Boeing aircraft for Chinese airlines. (whitehouse.gov) China’s commerce ministry said the two sides also agreed in principle to lower some tariffs on products of mutual concern and to set up new trade and investment councils. The measures were described by Beijing as preliminary and subject to further finalization. ### Did the two sides actually agree to cut tariffs? (whitehouse.gov) China’s commerce ministry said on May 16 that Beijing and Washington agreed in principle to lower tariffs on certain products “on an equivalent scale” through a new trade council. The ministry said the council would discuss reciprocal tariff reductions on specific goods and broader cuts on unspecified products, including agricultural goods. Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on May 15 that tariffs were not discussed in his meetings with Xi, according to Politico. That left a gap between the White House account, which emphasized purchases and market access, and Beijing’s account, which explicitly described tariff relief as part of the preliminary understanding. ### What is in the agriculture package? (whitehouse.gov) The White House said China will purchase at least $17 billion per year of U.S. agricultural products in 2026, 2027 and 2028, with the 2026 figure prorated, in addition to soybean commitments made in October 2025. The administration also said China restored market access for U.S. beef by renewing expired listings for more than 400 U.S. beef facilities and adding new ones, and would work with U.S. regulators to lift all suspensions of U.S. beef facilities. (politico.eu) Beijing said the two sides agreed to resolve or make substantive progress on non-tariff barriers and market-access issues involving some agricultural products. Reuters, reporting from Beijing, said China had granted five-year registration extensions to 425 U.S. beef plants and approved new five-year registrations for 77 additional U.S. facilities. (politico.eu) U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the United States expected China to buy “double-digit billions” of U.S. farm goods over the next three years. ### What did the White House say about rare earths and aircraft? The White House said China will address U.S. concerns over supply-chain shortages tied to rare earths and other critical minerals, including yttrium, scandium, neodymium and indium. It also said China would address U.S. concerns about prohibitions or restrictions on the sale of rare-earth production and processing equipment and technologies. (whitehouse.gov) The same White House fact sheet said China approved an initial purchase of 200 Boeing aircraft for Chinese airlines, calling it China’s first commitment to buy Boeing planes since 2017. China’s commerce ministry separately said the two sides reached arrangements on aircraft purchases and on U.S. guarantees for the supply of aircraft engines and related parts to China. (cnbc.com) ### What new bodies are being created to manage the relationship? The White House said Trump and Xi chartered a U.S.-China Board of Trade and a U.S.-China Board of Investment. According to the White House, the trade board will let the two governments manage bilateral trade across non-sensitive goods, while the investment board will serve as a government-to-government forum on investment issues. (whitehouse.gov) China’s commerce ministry described similar structures, saying the two sides agreed to establish a trade council and an investment council. Beijing said the trade council would be the venue for discussions on tariff reductions and two-way trade arrangements. ### What still has to happen before this becomes final? (whitehouse.gov) China’s commerce ministry said the agreements are preliminary and will be finalized “as soon as possible,” according to Reuters’ report from Beijing carried by CNBC. Neither side, in the material reviewed here, published a product-by-product tariff schedule or a formal implementation calendar for the tariff changes Beijing described. The White House said Xi will visit Washington this fall, and Politico reported that the next face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi is expected at the White House in September. (whitehouse.gov) Those meetings are the next named milestones for a package that, as of May 17, remained partly defined by separate U.S. and Chinese descriptions. (cnbc.com) (politico.eu)