China said on Saturday (26) that it reached an agreement with the United States to cut trade tariffs, in measures that include a tariff package estimated at $30 billion (about 156 billion reais, Brazil's currency), and to start a dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI). The announcement came from China's Foreign Ministry and spells out what was settled during the three-day summit between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump in Washington, which ended on Friday (25).
According to G1, the news portal of Brazil's Globo group, citing Reuters, the tariff cut is part of an eight-point consensus reached during Xi's visit to Washington. The two countries also agreed to create a trade council and to follow through on understandings from earlier negotiations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The announcement follows a decision by Washington and Beijing to extend by two months a trade truce that was set to expire on November 10. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the extension gives both countries more time to negotiate a broader trade deal.
The outcome matters to Brazil on both ends of its foreign trade. China is Brazil's largest trading partner, and the United States is one of its biggest customers. A durable truce between the world's two largest economies would ease uncertainty over global trade, and it also sharpens competition in a sensitive market: as the summit closed, Trump said he believed "our farmers will be happy" with the results, without giving details, as reported by CNN Brasil. The remark lands directly on Brazilian agribusiness, which competes with American exporters for China's demand for food and commodities.
What each side wants
The stakes were visible in the visit's guest list. At the gala dinner Trump hosted at the White House on Thursday (24), the guests included Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, AMD chief executive Lisa Su, Elon Musk and Tim Cook, who stepped down as Apple's chief executive last month, according to CNN Brasil, with information from CNN and Reuters. On the American side, Bessent speaks of a broader trade deal, and US Ambassador to China David Perdue told CNBC that any Chinese help to Iran, direct or indirect, is "totally unacceptable". Beijing wants predictability: Xi described the relationship between the two countries as one of "strategic stability" based on respect, justice and reciprocity. According to the Chinese ministry, the leaders also agreed that Iran must honor its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and that no country or entity should charge fees for passage through international waterways.
"This historic visit enriched the constructive and stable relationship between China and the US, maintained the overall stability of bilateral ties, opened a new chapter in China-US relations and will have a far-reaching impact on world peace and development," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement.
The summit itself ended with no public announcements of concrete deals; the details came from Beijing a day later, and the US Embassy in the Chinese capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Xi has already returned to Beijing, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Artificial intelligence on the bilateral agenda
On artificial intelligence, the two countries agreed to keep discussing the technology's risks and benefits and to create a communication channel for AI-related incidents, with a next round of talks scheduled for November. Beijing said it views positively Washington's use of the term "superintelligence" instead of "artificial intelligence", according to the ministry. Xi argued for human control over the technology: "We have both the capability and the responsibility to develop and manage AI for good, and to ensure that AI development is always under human control and serves the well-being of the people." The leaders also signaled they will attend the gatherings hosted by each other: the summit of Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), to be held in China, and the G20, in Miami.