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By Micah McCartney
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has invited the public to weigh in on which "nonsensitive" goods should be considered for tariff cuts as the country moves forward with its new "Board of Trade" with China.
The White House touted the Board of Trade and the separate Board of Investment as among the most important achievements of President Donald Trump's high-profile state visit to Beijing from May 13 to 16 for talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
"We welcome comments from interested parties on effective ways to facilitate mutually beneficial trade with China while continuing to use tariffs to defend American economic and national security and promote balanced and reciprocal trade," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement Tuesday.
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The administration will work with stakeholders—including those in the manufacturing, fishing, and ranching industries, as well as small businesses—to "identify non-sensitive goods trade that can deliver results," he said.
The two trade teams would "lock down the outcomes at an early date" to inject greater stability and predictability into U.S.-China trade and economic ties, as well as the global economy, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek.
The deadline for submitting comments is July 10.
Newsweek reached out to the USTR by email with a request for comment.
'Cornerstone'
The Trump-Xi talks produced few deliverables on issues where the superpowers' strategic interests clash, such as artificial intelligence and Taiwan, but trade was viewed as a more fertile area for near-term progress.
"The two sides...have agreed in principle to reduce tariffs on their respective products of concern on an equivalent scale, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said following Trump's visit.
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The U.S. Trade Representative has described the Board of Trade as a forum for officials from both governments to "manage" trade in non-sensitive goods, and the separate Board of Investment as a channel for discussing investment-related issues, according to the White House statement issued after the summit.
Notably, it was these two mechanisms—not Beijing's reported pledge to purchase $17 billion worth of American agricultural products and 200 Boeing aircraft—that the White House described as the "cornerstone" of the agreement with China, Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in an analysis.
In its current form, the Board of Trade is valuable in two ways, according to Henry Gao, a trade expert and professor at Singapore Management University's (SMU) Yong Pung How School of Law.
"First, in streamlining trade in items that both sides regard as relatively uncontroversial; and second, in establishing a stable channel of communication for the next two-plus years."
The mechanism also fills the need for a reliable line of communication for U.S. and Chinese negotiators, considering that existing channels of engagement have effectively been abandoned.
The Devil Is in the Details
Analysts say the proposal is still short on specifics and will require significant follow-through to effectively guide trade relations between the world's two largest economies.
"Both sides should take the time to agree on a detailed mandate, rather than papering it over or leaving that discussion for another day," Wendy Cutler, senior vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, told the South China Morning Post.
U.S. negotiators should draw on the successes and failures of other economic platforms used to engage with China, such as the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade and the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, she added.
The trade war Trump launched during his first term in office boiled over last year with the president's sweeping "Liberation Day" duties on most countries. The tariffs on Chinese goods were particularly steep, rising as high as 145 percent over what Trump characterized as unfair trade practices and inaction on producers of fentanyl precursors.
The two countries began easing trade tensions during Trump's October 30 face-to-face meeting with Xi in Busan, South Korea. Washington cut fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese goods to 10 percent from 20 percent, while Beijing pledged to resume U.S. soybean imports and lift restrictions on rare earth exports for one year.
Beijing Rejects USTR Forced Labor Claim
The Trump administration is weighing additional tariffs of up to 12.5 percent on goods from China and more than 60 other U.S. trading partners, citing insufficient efforts to ban imports made with forced labor.
"The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable," Greer said. "This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field."
The USTR proposed a 10 percent tariff on partners with a ban on the books for certain goods made with forced labor, or that committed to adopting a partial ban during trade negotiations aimed at rolling back the tariffs Trump imposed last year.
Other countries, including China, would face a 12.5 percent rate under the proposal.
China's Foreign Ministry denied there was forced labor in the country and suggested the issue was being used as a "pretext for political manipulation."
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the ministry, told reporters Wednesday: "China opposes all forms of unilateral tariff measures. No one stands to gain from a tariff war or a trade war."
The White House moving forward with the tariffs would further pressure trade partners to tighten restrictions on Chinese goods of questionable origin—such as by adopting legislation similar to the U.S.' Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
That could give U.S. negotiators additional leverage, said Gao, the SMU law professor. "If enough countries align with the U.S. approach, Washington will be able to build a much stronger bargaining position vis-à-vis China."
Update 6/4/26, 4:21 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from Liu Pengyu and additional information.
Update 6/4/26, 7:35 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from Henry Gao.
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