(MENAFN- Asia Times) Chinese media and commentators erupted in celebration following the latest summit between the top leaders of China and the United States, as Washington agreed to halve the 20% fentanyl-related tariff and to extend the suspension of the 24% reciprocal tariffs by a whole year, rather than the previously expected 90 days.

The victory claim followed US President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday morning.

Chinese pundits said the two compromises Trump made are significant. After Washington and Beijing agreed to de-escalate their tariff war in May, Chinese exporters still had to pay an average of 55%, including a 20% fentanyl-related tariff, a 10% reciprocal tariff, and a 25% tariff imposed during the 2018 trade war.

In the first nine months of this year, China's total exports to the US amounted to US$317 billion, down 16.9% year-on-year, according to China Customs. Assuming this trend continues in the fourth quarter, China's exports to the US would fall from US$526 billion in 2024 to US$435 billion for the full year of 2025. A 10 percentage-point cut in tariffs would save Chinese exporters US$43.5 billion annually.

Just a day before the Xi-Trump meeting, China's state-owned COFCO bought three US soybean cargoes, the country's first purchases from this year's US harvest, Reuters reported. Even if China buys the same amount of American soybeans in 2025 as last year, it will only have to pay US farmers US$12.6 billion. It can easily settle this by shifting its purchases from Brazil to the US.

“Why did the US suddenly loosen its grip? To put it simply, its own industrial chain could no longer bear the strain,” says an Anhui-based columnist writing under the pseudonym“Little Teahouse in Luzhou.”

“The US once threatened to impose 100% tariffs in retaliation for China's rare-earth controls, but soon realized that 90% of the world's rare-earth refining capacity lies in China. Even the rare-earth ores mined in Nevada must be shipped to Sichuan for processing.”

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The columnist says Raytheon once had to halt a missile production line because of a rare-earth shortage, and the F-35 fighter's production cycle stretched from 61 to 300 days, resulting in significant challenges with the readiness and maintenance of the US Air Force's F-35 fleet.

“It's like a person insists on renovating his home with imported tiles, but then finds that all the world's tiles are made by his neighbor. He has to beg his neighbor for help,” the writer says.

He adds that China played its rare-earth card effectively in its trade negotiations with the US, successfully gaining time to reform its supply chain. He says that although the US was willing to make compromises this time to try to resolve its fentanyl problem and TikTok deal, its policy directive of suppressing China's technological development has not changed at all.

More manufacturing orders

The announcement of the one-year suspension of tariffs sparked a wave of optimism across China's manufacturing heartlands. From Guangdong's factory floors to Jiangsu's export hubs, business leaders hailed the decision as a crucial lifeline that restores confidence to the sector and reignites global orders.

The celebratory mood underscored how deeply intertwined the one-year tariff extension is with the hopes of stabilizing China's export economy.

According to some Chinese media, factory managers and exporters described the news as a“lifeline” for production schedules and order books that had been shrinking under tariff pressure so far this year.

A Liaoning-based columnist writes that the one-year trade truce would allow companies to secure US contracts, maintain employment and rebuild client confidence after months of uncertainty.

“Bosses of Chinese exporting firms celebrated for having another year of breathing space,” he says.“Some toy exporters even joked on social media that their blood pressure can finally come down due to this good news.”

He says some Chinese exporters who had previously planned to raise prices to pay tariffs or relocate their factories to Southeast Asia can postpone those plans.

The columnist says US politics played an essential role in the recent US-China trade negotiations, as Trump needs to maintain a stable economy and a strong stock market to support the Republicans in the House of Representatives' midterm election on November 3, 2026. He says China must use the coming year to diversify its supply chain and upgrade its industries.

For many months, Beijing has repeatedly urged Washington to“truly seek cooperation with China and pursue dialogue based on equality, respect, and mutual benefit” if it wants to resolve its“own” fentanyl problem.

Given that Washington this time halved the fentanyl-related tariffs and agreed to extend the trade truce by one year, Beijing felt that its demand for“respect” and equal treatment had been recognized by Washington, leading officials to soften their tone on the fentanyl matter.

“China expresses sympathy for the fentanyl crisis in America. China has provided assistance in this regard, which has achieved positive results, and remains open to continuing cooperation with the US,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in the regular media briefing on Wednesday.

Port fees and sanctions rules

According to China's announcement, the US side agreed to postpone the implementation of its new sanctions rules by one year.

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Announced on September 29, the new sanctions rules aimed to extend the United States' Entity List and Military End-User List to cover affiliates of sanctioned entities. They prompted the Dutch government to invoke the Goods Availability Act to take over Nexperia, citing its“serious governance shortcomings.”

Beijing said it will postpone the implementation of its new rare-earth rules, announced on October 9, by one year. The rules would require overseas companies to apply for export licenses from China if their products contain Chinese rare-earth elements or use Chinese processing or refining technologies.

Also, the US and China have suspended reciprocal port fees for one year.

In April of this year, the US Trade Representative (USTR), citing the results of its Section 301 investigation, accused Chinese shipbuilders and operators of using unfair practices to gain global market shares. On October 14, the US began imposing high port fees on Chinese ships, and China retaliated with similar measures.

Some observers said Trump has lost his trade war with China as he has to postpone the implementation of port fees and sanctions rules. Others said it's too early to make that conclusion; after all, the Trump administration must make certain compromises to strike a deal with China in a big package, especially when the US still needs Beijing's help to end the Ukraine war. Trump said he will visit China next April.

Read: US, China edge toward fragile truce ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at @jeffpao3

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