The Sino-US economic and trade consultation will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from October 25 to 26, 2025. This meeting involves a number of key issues. The United States is led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative jamison greer, while the Chinese team is led by Vice Premier He Lifeng of the State Council, and Li Chenggang, international trade negotiator and vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, is also involved. Within two days, the two sides discussed issues such as export control, extension of the suspension period of reciprocal tariffs, fentanyl and anti-drug cooperation, ship charging measures, soybean trade and rare earth export control. These issues are the hot spots of previous trade frictions and have accumulated many contradictions.

After the consultation, Li Zheng Steel told the media that the two sides had had constructive discussions on these issues, formed a preliminary consensus, and that each of them would follow the internal approval procedures.Besent mentioned in an interview that the U.S. has postponed its plan to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese goods, China will postpone rare-earth export control for a year, and purchase U.S. soybeans, but the U.S. export control measures on China remain unchanged. This was directly in response to the threat announced by Trump on October 10, when he said he would impose a 100% tariff on Chinese goods from November 1 to counter China's rare-earth export control measures released on October 9.

The first day of the talks began on October 25, the two sides discussed the issue of export control, the United States expressed a strong stance, and China firmly safeguarded its interests. Then turned to the reciprocal tariff issue, China proposed an extension of the suspension period, the U.S. response showed a willingness to consider. Fentanyl and anti-drug cooperation part, China listed the relevant data, the U.S. side supplemented its own measures. Shipping charges measures issue involved the U.S. 301 article, China pointed out its impact, the U.S. has proposed an adjustment plan. Soya trade as a focus, China referred to the procurement arrangements, the U.S. confirmed the details. Export control of rare land is the key, China explained plans, the

From the information disclosed, this consensus covers several segments. The 100% tariff originally planned by the US is in response to China's rare earth control measures, now suspended, avoiding further deterioration of trade relations. China delayed rare earth control for a year, which was directly beneficial to the U.S. military and AI industries, because rare earth is the key raw material for chip manufacturing, and the U.S. is heavily dependent on China's supply. China agreed to purchase U.S. soybeans, which eased pressure on U.S. farmers, despite the small rise in U.S. imports of Chinese goods in September this year, but soybeans exports were zero, losses of up to billions of dollars. At the same time, the U.S.ined export controls to

In the context of the talks, the US-China trade war began in 2018 and experienced several rounds of upgrading. During Trump's second term, starting February 1, 2025, 10% tariffs on Chinese goods increased on March 3, 10%, the overall tariffs reached 54% on April 2 and 125% in July, far higher than the global 10% basic tariffs. China, through rare-earth control, introduced new regulations on October 9, including technology exports and overseas goods into regulation, and export balance rate doubled. Trump announced 100% tariffs and software export control on social media on October 10 as a direct response. But Bloomberg data on October 22 showed that the United States still imports about $1 billion per day of Chinese goods, a smaller rise than in September, showing the severity of the rupture. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded on

Besent said in an interview with NBC that Trump gave him 100% tariffs as a bargaining chip, and now the framework is in place to avoid imposing additional tariffs and discuss other issues. He also mentioned that China will purchase "large quantities" of U.S. soybeans and delay rare earth controls, while the United States maintains chip restrictions. Li Chenggang told Chinese and foreign media after the meeting that the two sides reached basic consensus on properly resolving each other's concerns. The consultations took place at the ASEAN summit in Sidelines, with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim witnessing part of the process and praising Trump's role in the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire agreement. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he hopes to reach a comprehensive agreement with China to avoid 100% tariffs.