U.S. and China Extend Trade Truce and Advance Targeted Tariff Reductions

Sep. 28, 2026
By: Austin J. Eighan

Following a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington D.C. last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the United States and China agreed to extend a trade truce (see our article on the initial deal here) from November 10, 2026 to January 10, 2027, which lowered U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and suspended Chinese export controls on rare earth minerals. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that the two-month extension serves as a “compliance period” to provide the parties with more time to negotiate and assess whether China is following its commitments to purchase U.S. agricultural products and sell rare earth minerals to U.S. buyers.

As part of the Chinese delegation’s visit, the U.S.-China Board of Trade released its recommendations under the “30-for-30” trade framework, which seeks to provide more favorable tariff treatment for approximately $30 billion of non-sensitive goods from each country. The U.S. and China established the Board during President Donald Trump’s May visit to Beijing to manage trade in non-sensitive products and create a channel for addressing economic issues outside of national security disputes. The Board’s proposal covers products across 77 HTS lines including fireworks, Christmas ornaments, toys, child safety seats, highchairs, microwave ovens, and bed linens. However, the recommendations do not establish specific duty rates or confirm that the listed products will receive MFN treatment, as the countries will have to implement the reductions through their respective domestic legal processes.

If your company would like to assess how the evolving U.S.-China trade relationship could impact sourcing strategies, landed costs, or how to benefit from potential tariff relief for eligible goods, please reach out to one of our attorneys at Barnes, Richardson & Colburn.