Chinese ambassador to the United States Xie Feng on Wednesday proposed to increase the limit of tariff-free goods under the newly created US-China Board of Trade from the existing US$30 billion to US$300 billion – a 10-fold rise in non-sensitive trade covered by the mechanism.
Addressing a gathering at the US-China Business Council gala in Washington, Xie said he shared the view of “many friends from American businesses” that the tariff-free basket was “far from big enough”.
“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,” Xie added.
“Personally, I would argue for doubling the number to US$60 billion, or even raising it to US$300 billion.”
According to figures from the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office, the goods trade between China and the US totalled an estimated US$414 billion in 2025.
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