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

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,…

By Samantha Johnson / May 20, 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”.

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“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.

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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
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

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