The flags were at full mast, the red carpet was out, and by the time Air Force One lifted off from Beijing, Donald Trump was telling reporters he had secured “fantastic trade deals, great for both countries.” The substance, as ever with US-China relations, is thinner than the pageantry suggests.

After two days of talks between Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s Commerce Ministry announced Saturday that both countries had agreed to cut tariffs and expand agricultural trade. The commitments are “preliminary” and will be “finalised as soon as possible,” the ministry said — language that leaves considerable distance between a handshake and a binding agreement.

What’s Actually on the Table

The most tangible outcomes involve agriculture. China has agreed to reciprocal tariff reductions on a range of goods and to address non-tariff barriers to US farm exports. Beijing granted five-year registration extensions to 425 US beef processing plants that had largely been shut out after their registrations lapsed last year, and approved 77 new facility registrations, according to China’s Commerce Ministry.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Washington expects China to buy “double-digit billions” of US farm goods over the next three years. Market watchers anticipate a 10% cut in soybean tariffs, which could allow private Chinese crushers — largely sidelined during last year’s US harvest — to resume purchases.

The agricultural sector needs the relief. US farm exports to China fell 65.7% year-on-year to $8.4 billion in 2025, according to USDA data, after rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs effectively froze commercial trade.

Trump also claimed China agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, with a potential commitment for 750 more. Boeing confirmed the deal. Chinese officials did not.

The Asymmetry of Confirmation

That gap is telling. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, asked about specific purchases, said only that “the essence of China-US economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win co-operation.” Beijing’s readouts describe “important consensus” and a “new positioning” for the relationship — phrases that signal warmth without committing to figures.

China’s Commerce Ministry struck a notably measured tone, saying both sides agreed to “resolve or make substantive progress” on non-tariff barriers and market access issues. The framing positions Beijing as a willing negotiating partner while carefully avoiding any language that could be read as concession.

Washington, meanwhile, has been more willing to put numbers on the record — but less forthcoming about what it is not resolving. Two Section 301 investigations into Chinese trade practices, launched after the US Supreme Court struck down key tariff lines in February, are still pending. Greer told Bloomberg TV that findings would be released “within the next several weeks,” after which further tariffs could follow.

“There will be a certain level of tariff on the Chinese,” Greer said. The current talks are about managing the temperature, not settling the underlying dispute.

A Truce Under Pressure

Both sides are operating within a year-long trade truce reached in Busan last October, which expires in November. Neither side confirmed an extension. Greer, asked directly, said only “we will see about that.”

The two countries agreed to establish a “Board of Trade” and an “Investment Council” — mechanisms for managing commerce in non-sensitive goods like agriculture and energy. It is a practical arrangement, but it explicitly sidesteps the harder questions: advanced chip exports, rare earth restrictions, and the broader technology competition that now defines the rivalry.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s presence at the summit fueled speculation about a possible loosening of chip export controls. None materialized. Greer confirmed the issue was not discussed at the meetings. The sale of Nvidia’s H200 chip to China, approved for export by Washington in January, still awaits Chinese import authorization.

Strategic Stability, With a Warning

Xi offered what Chinese state media described as a “constructive strategic stability” framework for the relationship. He also delivered a familiar warning. “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, according to Chinese state media. “If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict.”

The summit’s most consequential outcome may be procedural rather than commercial. Xi accepted Trump’s invitation to visit the White House in September, Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed. That gives both sides four months to turn preliminary language into binding commitments — or to let the familiar cycle of escalation resume.

For now, the tariff cuts are real enough for soybean traders to notice. Whether they represent a durable shift or a tactical breathing spell depends entirely on what happens when the Section 301 findings land.

Sources