US and China Hold First Trade Council Talks on Tariffs and Agricultural Commerce

By Staff, Agencies

The United States and China have held their first meeting of a newly established Trade Council through a video conference, discussing tariffs, agricultural commerce and possible reciprocal reductions in trade duties, China's Commerce Ministry announced Saturday.

The talks took place on Friday under the bilateral economic and trade consultation mechanism, with both sides reviewing the implementation of agreements reached during previous negotiations and following the understandings reached between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to China's Commerce Ministry, the discussions were described as "frank, in-depth, and constructive" and covered several key issues, including tariffs, a proposed reciprocal tariff reduction arrangement referred to as "30 billion for 30 billion," agricultural trade and other matters of mutual interest.

Separately, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced on the social media platform X that the Trump administration was establishing a US-China Board of Trade aimed at facilitating bilateral commerce in non-sensitive products.

The initiative is intended to create additional opportunities for American farmers, ranchers, fishermen, small businesses, manufacturers and workers by expanding access to selected areas of trade.

Washington emphasized, however, that substantial tariffs would remain in place to address what it considers China's unfair trade practices and protect American economic interests.

US officials also indicated that pursuing more balanced trade in specific sectors could help provide greater stability to economic relations between the two countries.

Beijing, meanwhile, said both sides had agreed to maintain communication, address outstanding trade disputes, expand areas of cooperation and manage their differences through continued dialogue.

The meeting comes as Washington and Beijing seek to ease trade tensions while maintaining economic engagement between the world's two largest economies, despite continuing disagreements over tariffs, market access and trade policies.