China and the United States have released reciprocal lists of products worth about US$30 billion each that will see tariff cuts, in a deal expected to boost bilateral trade.

The reciprocal tariff reduction as well as an extension of a trade truce were among the key takeaways from the second summit this year between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump, hosted in Washington last week.

According to the Commerce Ministry, the two sides agreed to establish the Board of Trade under the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, with the primary target of optimising bilateral trade.

Beijing and Washington agreed to reduce tariffs on about US$30 billion worth of goods imported from each other on a reciprocal basis, with tariffs on around 90 percent of the covered products to be lowered to most-favoured-nation rates.

The lists of products subject to the reciprocal tariff reductions included 1,619 items of US goods entering China and 77 categories of Chinese goods exported to America.

The US will reduce tariffs on Chinese imports including toys, home appliances, baby products, kitchen and bathroom goods, and holiday gifts, while China will lower tariffs on American imports including agricultural products, personal care products and medical devices.

The two sides also agreed to include Chinese coal imports from the US in the reciprocal tariff reduction framework.

The Commerce Ministry said importing US coal will complement China's domestic coal market while providing stable revenue and employment for the US coal industry, helping to stabilise and expand bilateral trade.

While the deal did not cover sensitive strategic goods, analysts believe bilateral trade will likely continue to recover for the rest of the year after it was hit by steep US tariffs on Chinese products last year.

The two countries last week also reached a two-month extension of the broader trade truce that was set to expire November 10 to January.

On artificial intelligence, Xinhua News Agency noted that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett last week held their first discussion on AI-related risks and benefits.

The two sides agreed to hold the next dialogue before the end of November and to set up a communication channel for AI incidents.

There will also be continued communication on increasing flights between the two countries. (Xinhua and agencies)


Edited by Edmond Fong