Trump administration proposes board of trade to manage US-China commerce, signaling tariff relief

President Donald Trump has proposed creating a new “board of trade” to manage commerce with China, an idea first teased by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in March. The body was agreed in principle at Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping earlier this month in Beijing, according to the White House. The board will manage trade in “non-sensitive” goods between the two countries, and discussions will cover $30 billion or more in exports from each country, representing a sizable chunk of the more than $650 billion in U.S.-China trade in goods and services in 2024, according to U.S. data.

Business groups are racing to influence which products qualify for tariff reductions, with details still scant. “We don’t know what they mean by ‘non-sensitive goods,’” said Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade at the Consumer Technology Association, which represents Apple, Google and Meta. “I think Ambassador Greer hasn’t been particularly clear about it, neither have the Chinese.” Brzytwa said his group plans to push for tariff relief for the “full range” of consumer tech products, including phones, laptops, monitors and video game consoles. “Are those non-sensitive? We would argue they are,” he said.

Stephen Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, which represents more than 1,100 apparel and footwear brands, said his member companies are also pushing for a broad interpretation. “Non-sensitive could mean items that are just simply not made here,” Lamar said, pointing to companies seeking relief for imported manufacturing inputs and equipment used to support U.S. production. Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, which represents companies such as Walmart and Macy’s, suggested using the list of products spared Trump’s first-term duties on China — including apparel, footwear, toys and home goods — as a starting point.

Greer said at a Council on Foreign Relations event on Tuesday: “My assumption is that there is some amount, some minimum amount on each side that we agree, yeah, we should trade this.” Officials have discussed prioritizing low-tech and consumer goods for tariff reductions, according to three people briefed by U.S. officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss developing plans. The people stressed that talks with China remain fluid and the administration is still ironing out elements of the framework.

Ed Gresser, vice president and director for trade and global markets at the Progressive Policy Institute, said the administration has expanded the definition of “national security” to cover a much broader range of products than what is typically considered sensitive, pointing to Commerce Department decisions that subjected even steel coffins to national security tariffs. “Everything would be a lot simpler if we kept to the idea that national security things are really systemically important and limited, rather than anything can be national security on any given day,” Gresser said.

Wendy Cutler, a former senior U.S. trade negotiator, said Trump has “three and a half months to get this thing up and running” before his next summit with Xi scheduled for September in Washington. “There will be pressure to show progress,” Cutler added, particularly “given how few deliverables came out of this last summit meeting.” A White House official said: “The administration looks forward to engaging more with the business community on this historic policy... Further details to come.”