[Salon] China-US trade talks saw Washington commit to tariff ceiling, Beijing says

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China-US trade talks saw Washington commit to tariff ceiling, Beijing says

Beijing says Washington agreed to keep future trade levies at numbers set in trade talks last year

SCMP

Sylvia Ma

Updated 21 May 2026

Washington would not raise future tariffs on Chinese goods above the level stipulated in a trade truce the two countries hammered out late last year, Beijing said, a commitment arising from talks in South Korea held hours before US President Donald Trump’s arrival in the Chinese capital last week.

Analysts said the pledge signals a shift in relations between the world’s two largest economies – from unilateral trade shocks towards a phase of “managed competition”.

“We hope the US side will honour its commitment that … US tariff levels on Chinese goods will not exceed those set under the Kuala Lumpur trade consultation arrangements,” a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement referred to a one-year agreement, negotiated by both sides in Kuala Lumpur in October, which suspended a swathe of reciprocal tariffs and non-tariff measures until November 10 this year.

The ministry also urged Washington to “further roll back relevant unilateral tariffs on China through follow-up consultations, creating positive conditions for expanding bilateral economic and trade cooperation”.

Both sides had, in principle, agreed to discuss a framework for reciprocal tariff cuts covering at least US$30 billion worth of each other’s goods, according to the ministry’s statement, which outlined the results of trade talks held in Seoul shortly before Trump met President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

China’s Ministry of Commerce says the US has committed to keeping future tariffs at numbers agreed to in Kuala Lumpur last year. Photo: Reuters

Xu Tianchen, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said the move suggested that “China acknowledged the US intention to rebuild its tariff wall, but said this would be done in a managed manner.”

He added it could mark a shift away from the now-standard pattern of a unilateral tariff hike made by the US, then followed by a tit-for-tat retaliation from China.

“Under the new model, the US will still enact new tariffs, but it will likely consult China beforehand so that the tariff scope and rate are acceptable,” he said, adding that China could also seek US concessions in other areas during consultation.

Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said that tariff cuts covering around US$30 billion of goods would amount to only about 10 per cent of US imports from China, limiting its impact on market expectations for economic growth.

“Nonetheless, this is a positive step in the right direction,” he said. “As long as the two countries are talking to stabilise bilateral relations, it is good news for global investors.”

Aside from the tariff arrangements, the ministry said Washington also pledged to address several non-tariff barriers for Chinese agricultural products. These included lifting the long-standing 2008 automatic detention measures on Chinese dairy products, easing curbs on certain seafood, accepting trial imports of Chinese medium-based bonsai, recognising Shandong as free of bird flu and expediting the removal of some Chinese firms from US import alert lists, the statement said.

“Importing US agricultural products can bridge structural supply gaps at home … while China’s massive consumer market provides stable income for American farmers,” the ministry said. It added that Chinese speciality dairy, seafood and produce items could also see “significant potential demand” in the US.

The statement also mentioned China’s commercial procurement of 200 Boeing aircraft and the creation of bilateral trade and investment councils to steady economic ties, additional outcomes from the talks, that were highlighted in a White House fact sheet on Sunday.

Both sides will maintain close consultations to push for an extension of the Kuala Lumpur trade truce to provide a more stable policy environment, the ministry added.

Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region at French investment bank Natixis, described the agreement as “standard reciprocal bargaining” aimed at stabilising trade flows in both directions while addressing domestic concerns on both sides, including those of US farmers and Chinese consumers.

“Overall, it’s a modest step towards managed competition rather than full resolution – implementation and follow-through will matter most,” she said.

Sylvia Ma

Sylvia Ma joined the Post in 2023 as a graduate trainee and covers China's economy. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Hong Kong and a