U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed that Washington and Beijing have reached preliminary agreements on a subset of nonsensitive goods, including agricultural products and medical devices, to be traded on more favorable terms. The administration plans to release specific details on Monday, though Greer did not specify which products are covered or how tariffs will change. These agreements are being negotiated through the new U.S.-China Board of Trade mechanism, designed to insulate certain commercial flows from future tariff disputes while excluding national security export controls. This development follows a two-month extension of the broader trade truce, which Greer described as a 'compliance period' to assess China's adherence to previous commitments, such as soybean purchases and rare earth access. While the U.S. goods trade deficit with China has fallen nearly 40%, some trade has shifted to other nations like Mexico. Analysts remain divided on whether this extension represents a genuine step toward stability or merely a temporary pause in a deeper strategic rivalry.
