US and China unveil tariff relief lists covering $30 billion of goods each

The United States and China each unveiled lists Monday detailing $30 billion worth of goods eligible for tariff relief, covering everything from toys to breeding livestock. The move follows last week’s summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and could ease costs for retailers and exporters on both sides before the holiday season.

• US and China plan to lower tariffs on $30 billion of goods from each country, announced Monday.
• Washington’s list centers on toys, sports equipment and Christmas decorations; Beijing’s longer list covers mostly agricultural products.
• Neither government has specified when the lower tariffs take effect or by how much duties will fall.

• $30B goods each country will cut tariffs on, per new lists
• $202B US goods trade deficit with China recorded last year
• 40%+ effective US tariff rate slapped on Chinese imports last year
• January new deadline for the extended US-China tariff truce

The United States and China published government lists Monday, spelling out which imports will see lower tariffs after last week’s summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to reporting by CNBC, Washington’s list is dominated by toys, sports equipment and Christmas decorations, while Beijing’s longer list is weighted toward American agricultural products. Neither side has said when the cuts take effect or by how much tariffs will fall.

US list favors toys and sports gear, China’s leans on farm goods

The US Public List released by the White House covers items such as toys, including tricycles but excluding devices that connect via WiFi or Bluetooth, along with rackets for games other than lawn tennis or badminton. It also names live breeding animals, including horses, donkeys, cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, along with chickens, plus frozen, fresh or chilled whole chickens and turkeys.

China’s import list is considerably longer and centers on American farm products, according to the government announcements. Washington has pushed for the cuts as part of a broader effort to shrink its trade deficit with China, which totaled more than $202 billion last year as Beijing continued to export far more to the US than it imports in return.

The US and China each imposed steep duties last year, with Washington’s effective tariff on Chinese goods exceeding 40% and Beijing’s on American goods topping 30%. Those levels were frozen under a one-year truce reached last fall.

Bessent points to January as new truce deadline for a quarterly Board of Trade

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week (week of September 21) that negotiators had agreed to extend the tariff truce, previously set to lapse, until January. The two governments also outlined a new “Board of Trade” made up of officials from both sides, according to the terms of reference published Monday.

The board will meet at least once a quarter, with senior officials convening “whenever necessary.” The mechanism formalizes contact that until now has run largely through ad hoc negotiations tracked on the Office of the US Trade Representative’s China page.

Jiangsu exporter expects a 30% sales jump if the cuts land

Executives on both sides of the Pacific are already positioning for the change. Ryan Zhao, director of Jiangsu Green Willow Textile, a home goods seller, said he expects second-half sales to rise 30% from a year earlier if the tariff cuts are implemented.

Jacob Cooke, chief executive of WPIC, a firm that primarily helps US brands sell in China, said timing matters most for retailers heading into the holiday season.

“If we see the tariff cuts actually implemented before the holiday season, it could provide a welcome boost to U.S. consumption and to retailers.”

Jacob Cooke, CEO, WPIC

Cooke added that Beijing’s list includes fast-growing categories such as hair care and packaged pet food, where Chinese brands already compete aggressively with American offerings. “Every percentage point counts for price competitiveness and preserving margin,” he said.

The BlockWest read. For import-dependent retailers, the real signal is not the tariff list but the missing effective date. Finance teams at toy, apparel and pet-food importers now need contingency plans for both a pre-holiday rollout and a delay into next year, since duty relief that lands after peak shipping season does little for margins already locked into fourth-quarter pricing.

The immediate question for importers and exporters is timing: neither Washington nor Beijing has set an effective date or specified the size of the tariff cuts on the newly published lists. The extended truce runs through January, and the first quarterly session of the US-China Board of Trade will offer the next formal venue for both sides to lock in when, and how much, tariffs actually come down.

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