WASHINGTON — The White House has released a list of 1,696 items worth $30 billion that will see tariff reductions, following up on the U.S.-China summit. The United States will lower duties on Chinese consumer goods such as small home appliances and toys, while China will cut tariffs on American medical devices and agricultural, livestock and fisheries products. With midterm elections set for Nov. 3, President Donald Trump is seeking to soothe sentiment in his rural strongholds, while China secures the practical benefit of reopening the U.S. market to its largest export category, light industrial goods.
The White House posted the list of items approved for tariff reductions by the U.S.-China trade committee on its website on the 27th. In May and again at this latest summit, the two countries announced tariff cuts on $30 billion worth of non-sensitive items each. Combined, the $60 billion figure accounts for roughly 14.5% of the two countries' total trade last year, which stood at $415 billion.
China plans to lower tariffs on American medical devices including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, surgical robots and ultrasound diagnostic equipment. It will also cut duties on a total of 1,619 American items, including agricultural products such as wheat, corn derivatives and soybeans for seed; livestock products such as pork and beef; fisheries products such as salmon, tuna and lobster; and timber, whiskey and dairy products such as cheese. Medical devices were not a prominent feature of the May talks.
The tariff cuts on American agricultural, livestock and fisheries products are seen as a move to shore up support among farmers and fishermen, a core constituency for Trump. Diesel prices in the United States have hit record highs on consecutive days, showing signs of driving away American farmers and fishermen who rely on diesel as the main fuel for their trucks. Bloomberg noted that the measures could help China meet its stated target of buying at least $17 billion in American agricultural products annually through 2028. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture trade data, China imported a total of $8.8 billion in American agricultural products from January to July 2026. Excluding soybeans, which are covered by a separate agreement from the $17 billion commitment, agricultural imports came to just $3.9 billion.
Conversely, the United States plans to lower tariffs on Chinese small home appliances such as microwave ovens, electric shavers, household coffee makers, blenders and toasters. It also included 77 items on the tariff reduction list, among them toys, soccer balls, baseballs, vacuum flasks, plastic kitchenware, wool blankets and infant car seats.
For China, whose consumer goods had faced narrowing sales channels because of American tariffs, the export path to the world's largest consumer market has widened. For a country grappling with the twin burdens of cutthroat price competition and rising unemployment amid weak domestic demand, the move also offers the prospect of easing public discontent. The same holds for the United States, where consumer price inflation remains elevated. In the case of toys, which make up a substantial share of the items, price stabilization from lower tariffs could help temper domestic frustration as demand rises for year-end gifts.
The White House said tariffs on 90% of all the items would be lowered to most-favored-nation rates. It added that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng would serve as chief representatives on the U.S.-China trade committee, which will meet at least once a quarter.
China's Ministry of Commerce also announced on the 28th, in a briefing on the outcome of the eighth round of U.S.-China economic and trade negotiations held in New York and Washington, D.C., from the 20th to the 23rd of this month, that "the United States and China agreed to include the tariffs China imposes on American coal in this round of $30 billion in reciprocal tariff reductions." The White House had said the previous day that China would import at least 10 million tons of coal over next year and 2028, but China made no mention of that.
