Port fees will go away, but only for one year.<\/p>\n
And Beijing is again buying U.S. soybeans<\/a> after it had abruptly cut off American farmers.<\/p>\n After months of posturing, arguing and threatening, U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> and Chinese leader Xi Jinping<\/a> have essentially turned back the clock. While the meeting<\/a> between the two leaders was hailed by Trump as a \u201croaring success,\u201d the agreement that came out of it may only serve to undo some of the damages Trump inflicted with his trade war upon his return to the White House.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is hard to see what major gains the U.S. has made in the bilateral relationship relative to where things stood before Trump took office,\u201d said Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University.<\/p>\n On the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday denounced the deal out of South Korea as leaving the U.S. as \u201cno better off.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf anything, things are worse: Prices have gone up and China has agreed to nothing of substance that will improve trade between our nations,\u201d the Democrat senator said, adding that Trump \u201cstarted a trade war, created a giant mess for businesses, consumers, and soybean farmers, and then he celebrates for trying to clean up the very mess he created in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Stay up to date with the latest news from AP.\n <\/p>\n Nevertheless, the deal has injected a degree of stability, giving the world\u2019s two largest economies \u2014 as well as the rest of the world \u2014 time and room to readjust.<\/p>\n Washington and Beijing still need to finalize their agreements, a process that always has the potential for fresh disputes. But for now, Xi appears interested in moving past the latest tensions.<\/p>\n In an official statement, Xi referred to \u201crecent twists and turns\u201d that \u201coffered some lessons for both sides.\u201d He said they should be \u201cfocusing on the benefits of cooperation rather than falling into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation.\u201d<\/p>\n Both sides reduce tariffs, resume soybean sales to China<\/p>\n Trump fired the first shot in the trade war in February when he imposed an additional 10% tariff<\/a> on Chinese goods over the allegation that Beijing failed to stem the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl. That soared to as much as 145% after China retaliated, but Trump walked it back following market meltdowns. <\/p>\n The two sides in May slashed<\/a> their massive tariffs to 10% on each other, while Washington retained the 20% fentanyl-related tariff, and China its retaliatory tariffs of 10% or 15% on U.S. farm goods. <\/p>\n Now, Trump said he has removed one 10% fentanyl tariff in exchange for Beijing\u2019s cooperation in fighting the illicit drug. <\/p>\n U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said China would also withdraw the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Beijing would \u201cadjust accordingly\u201d its countermeasures without giving details.<\/p>\n In addition, China has agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. beans through January, and will buy at least 25 million metric tons annually for next three years, Rollins said on Thursday. <\/p>\n That compares to China buying 17 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the first eight months of this year but importing zero in September. In 2024, China bought 22 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, according to state media.<\/p>\n Although China did not confirm the details of the latest soybean deal, the spokesperson for the Chinese commerce ministry said the two sides have reached \u201cconsensus\u201d to expand agricultural trade.<\/p>\n One-year truce on export controls and port fees<\/p>\n In April, China used its monopoly power in the processing of critical minerals to institute a permitting requirement for the export of several rare earth elements. On October 9, Beijing expanded the export rules, apparently in response to the U.S. decision to extend export controls to businesses affiliated with already-blacklisted foreign companies.<\/p>\n Furious, Trump threatened to impose a new 100% tariff on China, but the two sides managed to cool down in time for Trump to meet Xi in South Korea.<\/p>\n Beijing on Thursday said it would pause for a year the rare earth export rules from October to \u201cconduct research to refine specific plans,\u201d while the U.S. will suspend its affiliate rule for one year.<\/p>\n The delay by Beijing \u201cprovides just enough time for the United States to accelerate investment in capabilities and innovation for rare earths and permanent magnets,\u201d said Wade Senti, president of the U.S. permanent magnet company AML. \u201cThis needs to be on warp speed and at a scale never seen before since the COVID-19 response,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Another fresh thorn was the U.S. introduction of port fees in October targeting China-linked vessels, as part of a plan to restore America\u2019s shipbuilding capabilitie<\/a> s. Beijing answered with countermeasures<\/a> against the U.S. <\/p>\n The port fees on each other are not removed but will be suspended for one year, the Chinese commerce ministry said.<\/p>\n The future is still uncertain<\/p>\n
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