100% Tariffs On China 'Off The Table' As US Eyes Sweeping Trade Deal In Trump-Xi Meeting

Last Updated:October 26, 2025, 18:27 IST

The US and China are looking to avert an escalation of their trade war after Beijing announced new export curbs and Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2019. (Reuters/File)

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs was “effectively off the table" as top negotiators from both countries held what they called “very constructive" trade talks in Malaysia ahead of the highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this week.

The talks on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit will chart a path forward on a sweeping trade deal between Washington and Beijing, after Trump threatened new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and other trade curbs starting on November 1, in retaliation for China’s vastly expanded export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals.

Speaking to CBS News, Bessent said Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese goods “is effectively off the table" and he expected the Asian nation to make “substantial" soybean purchases as well as offer a deferral on sweeping rare earth controls. "

“We had a very good two-day meeting. I would believe that the – so it would be an extra 100% from where we are now, and I believe that that is effectively off the table," he said. “So I would expect that the threat of the 100% has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime."

Bessent said the US would not change its export controls with China. He separately told ABC News that he believed China would delay its rare-earth restrictions “for a year while they reexamine it."

US Eyes Trade Deal With China

Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur for a fifth round of in-person discussions since May.

This came as Trump arrived in Malaysia to kick-start his Asia tour, saying he was confident of a “great" deal when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. “I think we’re going to make a deal. It’s going to be great for China, great for us," he said.

According to Bessent, Trump and Xi would discuss soybean and agricultural purchases from American farmers, more balanced trade and resolving the US fentanyl crisis. They are also expected to discuss the sale of TikTok and the issue of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.

China’s Li said both sides had reached a “preliminary consensus" and will next go through their respective internal approval processes. “The US position has been tough. We have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges in exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Trump’s Tariff Threat

The encouraging signs of a trade deal are in stark contrast to recent weeks, when China announced new export curbs and Trump warned China of staggering 100% tariffs that threatened to pull the two countries again into an all-out trade war.

The US President accused Beijing of “extraordinarily aggressive" and “hostile" trade actions after China announced restrictions on exports of nearly all its products, particularly rare earth elements. However, Trump struck a conciliatory tone soon afterwards, saying the United States “wants to help China, not hurt it."

Tensions between the world’s two largest economies have flared recently as a delicate trade truce, reached after their first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August, failed to prevent the two sides from hitting each other with more sanctions, export curbs and threats of stronger retaliatory measures.

(with agency inputs)

Aveek Banerjee

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...Read More

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...

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News world 100% Tariffs On China 'Off The Table' As US Eyes Sweeping Trade Deal In Trump-Xi Meeting

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