MOFCOM Unveils Preliminary Outcomes of China-US Trade Talks
On Saturday evening (the 17th), China's Ministry of Commerce released the preliminary outcomes of the US-China economic and trade consultations. Judging from the overall assessment in the opening paragraph, the official tone was set as “broadly balanced and positive,” a fairly upbeat framing. ( I'm writing this while enjoying a hot spring in Beijing, hope the Finnish sauna isn’t dulling my brain too much.)
The main outcomes include:
A constructive consensus on tariff arrangements
The establishment of a Trade Council and an Investment Council — the Trade Council will focus on tariffs on imported goods, while the specific mandate of the Investment Council has yet to be disclosed and may still be under negotiation
A two-way breakthrough on agricultural tariffs and market access: the US side will move to address issues such as the automatic detention of Chinese dairy and aquatic products, exports of Chinese bonsai (with growing medium) to the US, and the recognition of Shandong as an avian-flu-free zone; meanwhile, China will push forward on US beef facility registrations and poultry imports
Mutual reductions in agricultural tariffs
China to purchase aircraft from the US, with the US committing to safeguard the supply of engine components for those purchases. (During last year’s trade war, Washington suspended the export licenses that had allowed GE to sell engines to China, which we needed to develop the C919.)
It's worth noting that the official communique uses the qualifier “preliminary outcomes,” signaling that negotiations are still ongoing. The text also explicitly states that “the two sides are still consulting on the details of the relevant outcomes,” which explains why no concrete numbers appear in China’s announcement. We'll likely have to wait for further information from both sides in the coming days. On a deeper level, releasing a preliminary outcomes list before the two sides have fully aligned on specifics also seems aimed at managing external expectations around Trump's China visit.
(Just before I publish this, the White House published its fact sheet-including an initial Chinese purchase of 200 American-made Boeing aircraft, the first such commitment since 2017, Chinese commitments to purchase at least $17 billion per year of U.S. agricultural products in 2026 (prorated), 2027, and 2028, on top of the soybean purchases agreed in October 2025, the renewal of expired listings for more than 400 U.S. beef facilities, the resumption of U.S. poultry imports from avian-flu-free states, and Chinese undertakings on rare earth and critical mineral supply chains covering yttrium, scandium, neodymium, and indium.) On political achievement, it put Iran in a high position. It’s not surprising he wants to get China on board, but whether it's about denuclearization or opening the Strait of Hormuz, and against the charge tolls. It's China's long-term position, so I don't think China would alter its Middle East stance.
No surprise Chip is not included; it’s connected to the AI race, and neither side is there yet; risk management would be good enough for this time.
What exceeded my expectations was the creation of the Investment Council. In the working-level exchanges leading up to these talks, the US line had consistently been that it was “not yet ready” to engage China on bilateral investment issues. Yet an agreement on this point was reached in Busan, which I read as an indirect signal that the negotiations themselves went relatively smoothly, without major friction. In his May 14 CNBC interview, Bessent explained that the Investment Council’s core purpose is to pre-identify non-strategic, non-sensitive sectors suitable for Chinese investment, so that those investments wouldn’t need to be submitted to CFIUS for review.
The market didn't react well to Trump's announcement that China would buy 200 Boeing aircraft (China hasn’t confirmed this yet), and Boeing’s stock slid as a result. I never expected a so-called “Grand Bargain“ to begin with. After a year of trade-war escalations and de-escalations playing out on repeat, the two sides are still very much in “crisis management” mode, with low trust level, landing a mega-deal simply isn’t realistic.
My expectation going into these talks was that if the two sides could maintain stability, achieve a breakthrough on coordination mechanisms, and tack on a few trade deals in non-security-sensitive areas, that would already count as a success. Looking at the results, the two sides reached a consensus on framing the relationship as “constructive strategic stability” and established two new coordination mechanisms in trade and investment. So from China's perspective, this round of consultations is, without question, a positive development.
Below is the translation I made based on MoFCOM's release
MOFCOM Spokesperson Answers Press Questions on Preliminary Outcomes of China-U.S. Economic and Trade Consultations
Q: On May 14, the heads of state of China and the United States held a meeting and announced that the two countries’ economic and trade teams had achieved overall balanced and positive outcomes. Could the Ministry of Commerce share more details about the results of these consultations?
A: The heads of state of China and the United States held a meeting in Beijing, where they had in-depth discussions on economic and trade issues, charting the course and providing strategic guidance for the further development of bilateral economic and trade relations. President Xi Jinping noted that the essence of China-U.S. economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. The overall balanced and positive outcomes reached by the two economic and trade teams are good news for the people of both countries and for the world, and both sides should work together to safeguard the hard-won positive momentum.
On May 13, the Chinese and U.S. economic and trade teams held consultations in South Korea, laying the groundwork in the economic and trade arena for the meeting between the two heads of state. Guided by the important consensus of the two presidents and upholding the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, the two sides engaged in candid, in-depth, and constructive exchanges on resolving each other’s economic and trade concerns and further expanding practical cooperation. Following this, the two sides held intensive consultations on the specific content of the outcomes and reached positive consensus.
The preliminary outcomes reached by the two sides in the economic and trade field mainly include the following:
First, the two sides will continue to implement the outcomes of earlier consultations and have formed positive consensus on relevant tariff arrangements.
Second, the two sides have agreed to establish a Trade Council and an Investment Council to discuss their respective concerns in the areas of trade and investment. Through the Trade Council, the two sides will discuss issues such as tariff reductions on relevant products, and have agreed in principle to reduce tariffs on products of concern to each side on a comparable scale.
Third, the two sides will resolve or substantially advance the resolution of certain non-tariff barriers and market access issues regarding agricultural products. The U.S. side will actively work to address China’s long-standing concerns regarding the automatic detention of dairy products and aquatic products, the export of medium-grown bonsai to the U.S., and the recognition of avian influenza-free zones in Shandong, among others. The Chinese side will likewise actively work to address U.S. concerns regarding the registration of beef facilities and the export of poultry meat from certain states to China.
Fourth, the two sides have agreed to promote the expansion of two-way trade in areas including agricultural products through arrangements such as mutual tariff reductions on a certain range of products.
Fifth, the two sides have reached arrangements concerning China’s procurement of aircraft from the U.S. and the U.S.’s assurance of the supply of aircraft engines and components to China, and have agreed to continue advancing cooperation in related areas.
The positive outcomes of the China-U.S. economic and trade consultations demonstrate that, by upholding the spirit of mutual respect, equality, and reciprocity, and through dialogue and cooperation, the two sides are able to find solutions to their problems. The two sides are still consulting on the specific details of the relevant outcomes. Following the direction of consensus set by the two heads of state, the economic and trade teams of both countries will work to finalize the outcomes as soon as possible and jointly ensure their implementation, so as to inject greater certainty and stability into future China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and the world economy.
More to read:
As a former state media employee, I once attended a Boeing media briefing held in Sanlitun in 2025. It was a modest affair, but nearly every reporter in the room had questions about the C919. The American executives on hand responded graciously, though the PR team looked like they'd long since stopped being surprised.
On the subject of aircraft: it's worth noting that the primary purpose of these 200 Boeing orders is to keep existing Chinese airline fleets on a normal replacement cycle — with the added benefit of throwing some work to Boeing's mainland Chinese contract manufacturers. What Beijing is arguably more focused on is the aero-engine procurement side of the deal, which stands to have a meaningful impact on C919 production.
The resumption of beef import license approvals is also a welcome development. China has never been comfortable letting any single country dominate its agricultural supply chain — Lula may be a perfectly charming leader, but Brazilian beef quotas were being drawn down a little too quickly for comfort. Given China's general posture on agricultural imports, opening the door to soybeans, corn, and beef is a textbook hedging move.
As for the chatter around EVs, AI, and semiconductors — I'd chalk most of that up to certain corners of the media, particularly the tech press, casting themselves in a larger role than they actually play. A bit like Jensen Huang, really: they've started to believe their own importance.