China, U.S. agree to $30 billion tariff cut, AI dialogue during Xi visit, Beijing says

The deal came out of an eight-point consensus reached during the three-day summit. Both countries also agreed to set up a trade council and extend the outcomes of earlier talks held in Kuala Lumpur, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The announcement builds on an earlier move this week. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday the two countries had agreed to extend a trade truce by two months, pushing back a deadline that had been set to expire November 10. That extension bought negotiators more time to work toward a bigger trade deal between the world's two largest economies.

For businesses and consumers on both sides of the Pacific, the tariff cut signals a real cooling in a trade relationship that has swung between confrontation and truce for years. A $30 billion reduction is a concrete number, not just a gesture. The new AI dialogue suggests both governments see technology policy as something worth negotiating directly rather than leaving to unilateral rules.

Whether the trade council and AI talks turn into lasting cooperation or just another pause before the next standoff is a question nobody in Washington or Beijing is answering yet.