US and China strike eight point deal on tariffs and AI dialogue after Xi’s Washington visit

The United States and China reached an eight point agreement covering tariff reductions and a new artificial intelligence dialogue following President Xi Jinping’s three day state visit to Washington, China’s foreign ministry announced Saturday shortly after Xi landed back in Beijing.

Both countries agreed to reciprocal tariff cuts on 30 billion dollars worth of goods traded in each direction, targeting products both sides classified as noncritical. On the American side, the reductions apply to agricultural products, seafood, wood, cosmetics and medical devices. Chinese exports benefiting from the cuts include small appliances, toys, holiday decorations and child car seats. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier in the week that he and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had been negotiating in New York to bring these tariffs down to what he called most favored nation levels, a proposal that first surfaced during Trump and Xi’s May summit in Beijing and remained under discussion until the two leaders met again this week.

The tariff arrangement builds on a broader trade truce the two countries extended earlier in the week, pushing its expiration from November 10 to January 10 and giving negotiators additional time to work toward a larger trade agreement, according to Bessent. China’s foreign ministry said the two sides also agreed to establish a new bilateral trade council and to extend the outcomes of earlier negotiations held in Kuala Lumpur.

On artificial intelligence, Washington and Beijing agreed to launch a formal dialogue examining the technology’s risks and benefits, with the first round of talks scheduled for November. The two governments also agreed to set up a dedicated communication channel specifically for resolving AI related incidents, a step officials on both sides described as an early move toward coordinating on a technology neither government has fully agreed on how to regulate. China’s foreign ministry said Beijing places particular value on Washington’s decision to adopt the term “super intelligence” rather than “artificial intelligence” in the two countries’ official exchanges, adding that as the technology continues advancing, both sides should deepen consultations and work toward shared understanding.

Beyond trade and AI, the eight point consensus touched on several other areas. The two governments agreed to support each other’s roles at upcoming multilateral gatherings, with both leaders planning to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and the Group of 20 meeting hosted by the other country. On foreign policy, China’s foreign ministry said the two sides agreed that Iran must follow through on its commitment not to pursue nuclear weapons, and that no country or entity should impose tolls on international waterways. The agreement also included a commitment for China to import 10 million metric tons of American coal annually through 2027 and 2028, alongside continued cooperation on anti narcotics enforcement, an area officials said had already produced dozens of arrests.

China’s foreign ministry characterized the broader outcome of Xi’s visit as an agreement to build what it called a constructive relationship of strategic stability between the two countries, grounded in mutual respect, fairness and reciprocity. The three day visit combined formal negotiations with symbolic gestures of goodwill, including a joint visit by First Lady Melania Trump and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, to the National Archives Museum in Washington. The US Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the agreement following Xi’s departure.

The deal arrives against a backdrop of continued uncertainty over how Washington plans to approach AI oversight domestically. Trump has responded to mounting pressure from lawmakers and industry figures to establish clearer safeguards by announcing plans to create what he called an AI Force and to name an AI czar, while at the same time dismissing broader safety concerns about the technology as, in his own words, a hoax. He has ruled out Bessent as a candidate for that czar role despite speculation linking the two.

The agreement marks the most substantive set of deliverables to emerge from a Trump Xi meeting this year, following a毫 lower profile encounter between the two leaders in South Korea, where their talks produced warmer rhetoric about long term cooperation but few concrete commitments. With sources of tension still unresolved between the world’s two largest economies, particularly around competition in advanced manufacturing and emerging technology, this week’s agreement offers a rare instance of both governments translating summit level diplomacy into specific, dated commitments, from tariff schedules to a named month for the first round of AI talks, even as broader strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing continues to shape the wider relationship.