By Simone McCarthy, John Liu, NCS
Beijing/Hong Kong (NCS) — When the wheels of Air Force One lifted up from Beijing on Friday, US President Trump was wrapping a three-day visit with many questions nonetheless excellent about what precisely he and Chinese chief Xi Jinping had agreed to.
Over the weekend, statements from each side have began to demystify the outcomes of a assembly that was largely about resetting the tone between the world’s prime economies after a fractious yr that drove each to the sting of decoupling.
Now, the US and China are poised to arrange two new establishments – a “board of trade” and a “board of investment” – to handle these financial ties, statements from the White House and China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed Sunday.
The White House additionally stated that China would buy at the least $17 billion per yr of US agricultural merchandise and make an preliminary buy of 200 American-made Boeing plane.
Beijing’s readout did in a roundabout way affirm these offers, saying as a substitute that each side would “promote expanded two-way trade” in agricultural items and had made preparations on China procuring American planes.
Both bulletins are brief on specifics and fall brief of a main breakthrough in rebalancing commerce.
But they bolster indicators set out by each Trump and Xi throughout their summit that they need to keep away from volatility and improve cooperation – setting their nations’ rivalry on extra predictable floor.
The two sides final yr have been locked in a tit-for-tat commerce battle that upended provide chains, together with of the strategically important uncommon earths that Beijing holds a close to monopoly on refining.
Xi and Trump agreed to a year-long truce throughout a assembly final October, and their newest summit has ushered in a new aim for his or her ties: reaching what each side have dubbed a “constructive relationship of strategic stability.”
Outcomes introduced up to now additionally highlight the place daylight and frictions proceed to exist. There’s little signal, too, of how they’ll work collectively on one of the thorniest points: tech.
Beijing, for its half, additionally makes clear that there’s extra to be hammered out by negotiators within the weeks and months to come, calling the present outcomes “preliminary.”
A $17 billion win?
The essential topline quantity from the White House following the talks is $17 billion – the minimal quantity Washington says China has agreed to buy of American farm items yearly by 2028.
The $17 billion will come on prime of the soybean buy commitments that Beijing made in October 2025, in the course of the summit between the 2 leaders in South Korea, which led to their commerce truce.
That stage of purchases could be a large bounce from final yr, when US agricultural exports to China totalled solely $8.4 billion, in accordance to US government data. But it’s not far off from ranges in 2024, the final yr of the Biden administration and earlier than Trump’s tariff conflict.
The $17 billion settlement to buy US agricultural items plus its present dedication to purchase 25 million metric tons of soybeans will quantity to roughly $27 billion in worth per yr, in accordance to a NCS calculation based mostly on the costs of soybeans exported to China final yr. That’s barely increased than the $24.4 billion value of US agricultural exports to China in 2024, knowledge from the US Department of Agriculture confirmed.
The White House factsheet did not present additional particulars on what it known as China’s settlement to an “initial purchase” of 200 Boeing plane, which the American aerospace big has but to publicly affirm.
China’s Commerce Ministry merely confirmed preparations on procuring plane and ensuing China’s provide of plane engines – expertise the place China nonetheless lags the US.
Both sides additionally pointed to decreasing limitations for different agriculture commerce, whereas Beijing stated they’d promote expanded commerce in farm items, together with by “mutual tariff reductions.”
Tariffs and the ‘board of trade’
Mention of “tariff reductions” have been noticeably lacking within the White House abstract of the current talks. Trump instructed reporters that he and Xi did not talk about the tariff subject.
US tariffs final yr sparked the nations’ commerce conflict, however have been introduced down by negotiations and the following truce.
But the problem stays stay: the US is at present investigating whether or not it can add further tariffs on sure items from China and different nations, after the Supreme Court struck down some of the Trump administration’s present levies.
How and whether or not the newly introduced “board of trade” would play into these points stays unclear, with particulars nonetheless hazy.
China’s Ministry of Commerce framed the “board of trade” as a discussion board to talk about issues, in addition to points like tariff reductions. It stated the 2 nations “agreed in principle” to mutually cut back tariffs on sure merchandise.
In an interview with CBS’ Face the Nation that aired Sunday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described the board as a “formalized way” for the 2 governments to talk about the raft of tariffs, import controls, export controls and non-tariffs limitations impacting commerce between the 2 sides.
“We’re thinking about how to manage economic relations between the US and China. These are two economies that are quite different, and we’re focused on trade in non-sensitive goods,” Greer stated of the board, noting “non-sensitive goods” embrace may agricultural and power merchandise, Boeing planes, and medical units.
The board of funding, he added, was a means to “put out issues when they arise between the two countries.”
In Chinese state media over the weekend, consultants and pundits made related observations, suggesting the boards would cut back miscalculations and enhance the steadiness of commerce and funding.
Another lingering query is how the 2 will take care of one other fraught subject: their tech rivalry. China has lengthy sought to get the US to roll again restrictions on exports of high-tech items to China, together with chipmaking tools.
The White House in its reality sheet nodded to one other topic that’s broadly seen as having introduced the US to the negotiating desk final yr: important minerals.
China would “address US concerns” on provide chain shortages of uncommon earths and different important minerals and on restrictions of the sale of associated processing tools and applied sciences, it stated.
While Beijing has agreed to postpone the implementation of some of its sweeping controls on uncommon earths in October, industries have continued to battle with supply shortages.
Beijing’s statements did not explicitly point out these points.
They did, nevertheless, say the 2 sides would proceed to “implement the outcomes” of earlier talks.
The-NCS-Wire
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NCS’s Joyce Jiang contributed to this report.