The United States and China are discussing reductions in tariffs on American energy and agricultural exports and on Chinese manufacturing inputs, according to officials involved in the talks, as the two governments work toward extending a one-year trade truce ahead of a planned summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month.
The discussions center on roughly $30 billion in trade under a reciprocal tariff-reduction framework, with officials also weighing whether to apply most-favored-nation rates to a select group of Chinese goods, according to a report from Transport Topics. Bilateral trade between the two countries topped $400 billion in the first eight months of 2026, underscoring how much a reduction on even a slice of that volume could matter to exporters on both sides.
Bessent to Meet Chinese Counterpart This Weekend
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week he plans to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York this weekend to advance the negotiations, according to reporting from The Spokesman-Review. The meeting is meant to lay groundwork for Xi's expected trip to Washington on Sept. 24, which is set to include a state dinner, though Beijing has not yet publicly confirmed the visit's dates.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said he expects the summit to produce announcements on agriculture and nontariff barriers affecting farm trade, pointing to agriculture as the likely centerpiece of any deal. China has continued working toward a pledge to buy 25 million tons of U.S. soybeans annually through 2028 and has committed to at least $17 billion in additional U.S. agricultural purchases each year; Beijing has reportedly passed the halfway mark on this year's soybean target. Representatives from Chinese state trading firm Cofco may accompany Xi to Washington, a detail seen as reinforcing agriculture's role in the talks.
The negotiations come against a backdrop of broader strain, including Washington's concerns over Beijing's energy and defense ties to Iran and Russia and continued competition between the two countries over artificial-intelligence technology. Bessent has said maintaining U.S. leadership in AI is central to how he approaches the overall relationship with China, a reminder that near-term tariff relief on farm goods and energy is unlikely to resolve the deeper strategic rivalry between the two economies.
A truce extension, if finalized around the summit, would remove one source of uncertainty for global markets already contending with elevated oil prices and shipping disruptions tied to the Middle East conflict. Trade lawyers and exporters on both sides say they are watching for a joint statement or formal notice from either government in the coming days as talks continue.
