USTR Greer said an agricultural deal worth double-digit billions is expected from the US-China summit, with China meeting soybean commitments, though no tariff rate commitment was offered.
Summary:
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer:
- A deal for double-digit billions of dollars in US agricultural sales to China is expected to emerge from the summit, with China said to be fulfilling existing soybean purchase commitments
- Greer described the summit as having delivered significant successes in rebalancing trade with China, though he declined to commit to any specific tariff rate on Chinese goods
- Trade investigation findings are expected to be released within weeks
- Nvidia H200 chip purchases by China were described as a sovereign decision for Beijing, with chip export controls said not to have been a major topic at the meeting
- The Trump-Xi meeting was characterised as candid
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signalled meaningful progress on agricultural trade with China following the latest bilateral summit, while maintaining deliberate ambiguity on tariffs and sidestepping questions around semiconductor export controls.
Greer said the US expects an agreement covering double-digit billions of dollars in American agricultural sales to China to emerge from the summit, pointing to the talks as evidence of tangible rebalancing in the trade relationship. China, he added, is fulfilling its commitments on soybean purchases, a development that will be closely watched by agricultural commodity markets given the scale of China’s buying power in that sector.
On tariffs, Greer was careful not to offer any specific commitment on the rate that will apply to Chinese goods going forward. He acknowledged that China understands a certain level of US tariffs will remain in place, but declined to be drawn on where that level will ultimately sit. The position preserves negotiating flexibility for Washington but leaves importers and businesses exposed to US-China trade flows without the certainty they have been seeking. Findings from ongoing trade investigations are expected to be published within weeks, which may provide more clarity on the direction of tariff policy.
The technology dimension of the relationship received notably less attention at the summit than some had anticipated. Greer described chip export controls as not having been a major topic in the meeting, and framed any potential Chinese purchases of Nvidia H200 chips as a sovereign decision for Beijing to make. That framing stops well short of any US commitment to ease restrictions, while avoiding an explicit hardening of the existing controls.
Greer’s overall characterisation of the Trump-Xi meeting was that it was candid, a diplomatic term that typically signals substantive but not necessarily comfortable exchanges. The combination of agricultural progress, tariff ambiguity and chip restraint reflects a relationship that is moving incrementally rather than toward any comprehensive resolution.
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The prospect of a double-digit billion dollar agricultural deal would provide meaningful support for US soybean and broader agricultural commodity prices, with China’s confirmed fulfilment of soybean purchase commitments already a positive signal for that market. The refusal to commit to a specific tariff rate on Chinese goods keeps uncertainty elevated for supply chains and importers exposed to US-China trade flows. The framing of Nvidia H200 chip purchases as a sovereign decision by China leaves a potentially significant technology trade flow unresolved, with implications for semiconductor sector sentiment
