Global News FreightWaves US, China clinch one-year trade truce,
cut tariffs in rare earth deal

Noi Mahoney Thursday, October 30, 2025
Original Article: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-china-clinch-one-year-trade-truce-cut-tariffs-in-rare-earth-deal
Articles Reproduced by Permission of FreightWaves

Under the deal, the U.S. will reduce tariffs on Chinese goods to an average of 47% from 57%. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The U.S. and China reached a one-year trade truce Thursday, with Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreeing to scale back tariffs and suspend new export controls that had fueled months of economic tension.

The agreement, announced after a 90-minute meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea, marks the first face-to-face talks between Trump and Xi since 2019.

Under the deal, China will pause its planned export restrictions on rare earth minerals for a year, while the U.S. will reduce tariffs on Chinese goods to an average of 47%, including halving the fentanyl-related tariff to 10%.

Trump called the meeting “amazing,” saying Xi agreed to “work very hard” to curb the flow of illicit fentanyl — a major driver of U.S. overdose deaths, according to Reuters.

“It was an amazing meeting,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he left South Korea, ranking the talks a “12 out of 10.”

China also pledged to purchase 12 million metric tons of American soybeans through January and continue buying 25 million tons annually over the next three years, along with U.S. oil and gas.

In return, Washington will delay for one year new restrictions on Chinese firms tied to U.S.-sanctioned entities and suspend planned measures targeting China’s maritime and shipbuilding sectors. Both nations also agreed to pause tit-for-tat port fees that had strained global supply chains.

Despite the agreement, average tariffs between the U.S. and China will remain steep — roughly 47% on Chinese imports and 32% on U.S. exports to China.