Trade frictions between the world’s top two economies are set to take centre stage next week when US President Donald Trump hosts Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the White House.
Although a shaky truce was reached last October that halted the frenzied escalating tariff battle launched by Trump, a comprehensive and permanent deal has remained elusive.
Here is where things stand ahead of the summit, which is expected to take place on September 24:
How high are current levies?
Tariffs have represented a major hurdle in the China-US trade relationship since 2018, during Trump’s first term.
In April 2025, the base US tariff rate on Chinese goods reached an eye-watering 145 percent — matched by China’s reciprocal levies of 125 percent — although both sides have since significantly reduced rates.
Tolls are now imposed by both sides in a complex patchwork of sector-specific policies.
The effective tariff rate for imports from China, which balances various duties paid across all items, was 22.8 percent as of July, the highest among all major US trading partners, according to research organisation the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
Among the highest effective tariff rates for Chinese goods heading to the United States are 40.5 percent on steel and aluminium, it said.
China still maintains a 10 percent levy on all US goods, with additional rates applicable in other specific sectors, such as 15 percent on liquid natural gas.
How much is still being traded?
Trade between the world’s two largest economies has continued despite the turbulence caused by the tariffs.
Total imports and exports hit $400.8 billion in January through August this year, Chinese customs data shows, a 5.4 percent rise from the same period in 2025.
But the balance is lopsided, with Chinese exports accounting for 75 percent of that.
Beijing’s soaring trade surplus has long ruffled feathers in Washington, while a similar asymmetry with the European Union is also exacerbating tensions with Brussels.
What is being discussed?
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he would be discussing “almost everything” with Xi at the summit.
Tariffs, however, are “the main issue on the agenda”, Dan Wang, a director on Eurasia Group’s China team, told AFP. “Xi wouldn’t go if there were no deliverables on tariffs or a trade truce,” she said.
Beijing and Washington are currently in consultation about a tariff reduction framework covering $30 billion worth of products on each side, China’s commerce ministry said last week.
That goal was agreed at Xi’s last meeting with Trump in Beijing in May, during which they also agreed to establish trade and investment councils intended to manage friction.
