China’s US envoy calls for 10-fold rise in tariff-free trade under joint board

China's ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, has called for a significant expansion of tariff-free trade between the two nations. Speaking at a US-China Business Council gala, Xie proposed increasing the limit for tariff-free goods under the newly established US-China Board of Trade from $30 billion to $300 billion. This represents a tenfold rise in the value of non-sensitive trade covered by the mechanism. Xie echoed sentiments from "many friends from American businesses," stating that the current tariff-free basket is "far from big enough." He argued for a longer list of exemptions, considering the overall scale of bilateral trade. The ambassador suggested doubling the current limit to $60 billion or even raising it to $300 billion. Bilateral goods trade between China and the U.S. was estimated at $414 billion in 2025, according to the U.S. Trade Representative's office. The US-China Board of Trade was a key outcome of a recent visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to China, aiming to manage a tariff-free trade mechanism by selecting non-sensitive sectors and products.

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I cannot agree more. If we take into account the scale of overall bilateral trade, there is still a reason for making the list of exemptions longer.