China, US 'complete most' commitments

United States Ambassador to China David Perdue says Washington and Beijing have "completed most" of their Busan commitments and expects the next leaders' meeting to "solidify the objectives and criteria of success" for this year's negotiations, describing the bilateral contacts as increasingly regular and "multidimensional".

Perdue made the remarks in a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday, nearly three months after Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump met in Busan, the Republic of Korea, in October, where they reached important common understandings.

After months of escalating tensions throughout most of 2025, the two countries managed to avert a potential crisis by suspending certain restrictive measures and extending their tariff truce for an additional year.

Asked about compliance with the truce, Perdue said he believes "both sides were very genuine in their agreement in Busan" and had "already completed most of the agreements". He highlighted agricultural purchases, specifically on soybeans, saying China is "on track to buy everything they said they would buy".

Perdue also described progress on fentanyl cooperation as a "major encouragement", saying China had scheduled 13 precursor chemicals for restriction and placed an embargo on them for North America.

He noted a shift in judicial cooperation, saying that "for the first time, US law enforcement and law enforcement in China are cooperating on fentanyl inside China", without providing details. China Daily could not independently verify such cooperation.

A policy paper issued in March by the State Council Information Office said China took the lead in placing the entire category of fentanyl-related substances under regulatory control as early as May 2019. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security said last month that narcotics control authorities in China and the US have been implementing the Busan consensus and have made "notable" progress in joint counternarcotics efforts.

While Perdue did not elaborate on the collaboration, publicly reported accounts point to at least one recent instance of counternarcotics coordination. On Feb 24, acting on intelligence provided by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, China's antidrug agencies and the Coast Guard conducted an operation in the South China Sea, detaining seven suspects and seizing more than 4,900 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Reciprocal move

Perdue did not say whether the US' remaining additional tariffs on Chinese goods imposed in February under the pretext of the fentanyl issue would be lifted.

Late last year, Washington reduced its "fentanyl tariffs" to 10 percent from 20 percent. In a reciprocal move, China scrapped its 10 percent counter-tariff on US soybeans, paving the way for potential imports from US farmers.

"Soybean exports are critical for Trump to bolster his following in the farm states," said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. On Tuesday, Trump traveled to Iowa, the US' largest corn producer and the second-largest soybean producer.

"The 10 percent 'fentanyl tariff' will be eliminated at the April meeting," Hufbauer said, referring to the US president's planned trip to Beijing.

There has been no official announcement on the timing of the summit. During the Busan talks, the two leaders agreed to maintain regular interactions. A Chinese readout of the talks said Trump "looked forward to visiting China" early this year and invited Xi to visit the US.

"What we're really trying to do in this entire episode is to buy some time and space to allow our negotiators … to negotiate a trade deal," Perdue said, naming US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng.

The talks were "making a lot of progress", he said, but both sides needed more time after the countermeasures deployed last year, and both leaders felt "we could benefit from this timeout".

The goal of the April meeting would be to "solidify the objectives and criteria of success" for this year's negotiations, he said. US-China contacts are improving and becoming increasingly multidimensional, with more frequent top-level exchanges and broader cross-agency engagement, he said.

"So I'm fairly encouraged right now by more interaction," Perdue said, adding the US is encouraging more congressional engagement following a "very successful" visit by US lawmakers led by Representative Adam Smith in September.

On Monday, China's Commerce Ministry said Beijing stands ready to work with Washington to manage differences properly, advance cooperation and maintain a stable, healthy and sustainable development of economic and trade ties.

"Based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, China and the US held five rounds of economic and trade consultations in 2025, which yielded a series of positive outcomes," Vice-Minister of Commerce Yan Dong said at a news conference.

"This fully demonstrated that China and the US can find ways to resolve issues through equal dialogue and consultation," he said.

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com