U.S. Reaches Agreement on Economic and Trade Relations with China
On November 1, The White House released a fact sheet on the results of the Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea. In short, the U.S. is lowering the fentanyl tariffs, keeping the current reciprocal tariffs, suspending the 301 shipbuilding fees, and postponing the implementation of the BIS rule, effective from Nov. 10, 2025.
The United States has agreed to:
- Fentanyl tariff rate reduced. The additional IEEPA Fentanyl tariff on goods of Chinese origin drops from 20% to 10%.
- Reciprocal tariff rate retained. The 10% IEEPA Reciprocal tariff remains in place, retaining the effective tariff rate on goods of Chinese origin at 10% through November 10, 2026.
- Section 301 exclusions extended. The U.S. extended existing Section 301 exemptions through November 10, 2026, which were set to expire on Nov. 29, 2025.
- 301 Shipbuilding fees paused. Implementation of the fees imposed pursuant to the Section 301 investigation into China’s shipbuilding is suspended for one year.
- BIS “Affiliates/50% Rule” paused. Suspend, for one-year, the implementation of the BIS 50% rule, Expansion of End-User Controls to Cover Affiliates of Certain Listed Entities.
China has agreed to:
Agricultural purchases. China’s commitments include specific purchases of soybeans and resumption of purchases of other goods, such as U.S. sorghum and hardwood logs.
Rare earths and related exports. China will suspend its new global licensing regime for rare earths and issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite for the benefit of U.S. end users and their suppliers.
Fentanyl cooperation. China will take significant measures to end shipments of certain fentanyl-related precursor chemicals and to enhance joint enforcement.
Retaliatory measures paused. China will suspend retaliatory tariffs imposed since March 4 and remove or suspend non-tariff countermeasures, including unreliable-entity-list actions against U.S. companies. It will resume trade from Nexperia’s facilities in China, which will allow the production of critical legacy chips to resume, and it will extend the market-based tariff exclusion process for imports from the United States.
Please note, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Wednesday, November 5, in the consolidated challenge to the IEEPA tariffs. Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, (D.D.C. May 29, 2025); V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, (C.I.T. May 28, 2025). Argument will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET and will last 80 minutes. The Court will make available a live audio feed on its website, and will post a recording of the argument here.
No additional formal notice (e.g., Federal Register notice, CSMS message, amended tariff schedule) has been published as of this writing. We will continue to monitor for any official actions, and will post any additional information as it becomes available. Stay tuned.
