China and the United States Agree to $30 Billion Tariff Reduction

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China and the United States agreed on a mutual arrangement to reduce tariffs worth $30 billion and to launch a dialogue on artificial intelligence, as part of an eight-point consensus reached by the two countries during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States.

The United States and China had previously agreed to extend a two-month trade truce that was set to expire on November 10.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that this provides additional time to work toward a potentially more comprehensive trade agreement.

The leaders of the world’s two largest economies concluded a three-day summit that served more as a display of personal diplomacy than as an opportunity for a major, publicly announced breakthrough. China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday that Xi had returned to Beijing.

Regarding artificial intelligence, the ministry said the two sides agreed to launch a dialogue to discuss the risks and benefits of the technology, with the next round of discussions scheduled for November, and to establish a communication channel for incidents related to artificial intelligence.

They also agreed to mutually support each other in hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting in China and the G20 summit in the United States, with both leaders expressing their intention to participate in the event hosted by the other side.

On foreign policy, the ministry said the two leaders agreed that Iran should fulfill its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and that no state or entity should impose fees on the passage through international waterways. They also recalled the period when China and the United States were allies during World War II.