Beijing says Washington agreed to keep future trade levies at numbers set in trade talks last year
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenSylvia MaPublished: 8:00pm, 20 May 2026Updated: 8:01pm, 20 May 2026Washington would not raise future tariffs on Chinese goods above the level stipulated in a trade truce the two countries hammered out late last year, Beijing said, a commitment arising from talks in South Korea held hours before US President Donald Trump’s arrival in the Chinese capital last week.Analysts said the pledge signals a shift in relations between the world’s two largest economies – from unilateral trade shocks towards a phase of “managed competition”.Advertisement“We hope the US side will honour its commitment that … US tariff levels on Chinese goods will not exceed those set under the Kuala Lumpur trade consultation arrangements,” a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday.
The ministry also urged Washington to “further roll back relevant unilateral tariffs on China through follow-up consultations, creating positive conditions for expanding bilateral economic and trade cooperation”.
