On 23 September 2026, China Daily reported remarks from China’s Ministry of Commerce that Beijing and Washington are consulting stakeholders on reciprocal tariff cuts and will move to put them into effect once arrangements are set. MOFCOM official Meng Huating said the two countries’ economic and trade teams are maintaining close communication on the trade council—a mechanism agreed under the leaders’ consensus—and on a reciprocal tariff-reduction framework covering about US$30 billion worth of products on each side.
Meng said China is consulting widely on the proposed reductions—seeking views from domestic companies and business associations, local governments, and U.S. companies and chambers of commerce in China—while the U.S. side is seeking public comment on the board and the tariff framework. The ministry said both sides will keep communicating, finalize tariff-reduction arrangements for specific products, and advance implementation as soon as possible to support further bilateral trade.
For China-origin importers and procurement teams, the actionable point is process, not a published rate table: no product list, duty cut, or effective date is in the 23 September readout. Treat any reciprocal relief as contingent until USTR/MOFCOM name lines and dates, and continue planning against existing Section 301 list rates, the November exclusion/maritime-fee clocks, and any separate Section 232 clocks already in force.