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Snapshot 6:Mon, May 18, 2026 12:45:07 PM GMT last edited by ArthursSeat22

US, China Announce Multiple Trade Deals

US, China Announce Multiple Trade Deals

Is this a landmark win for American workers or a partial recovery masking deeper losses?
US, China Announce Multiple Trade Deals
Above: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. Image credit: Kenny Holston/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin


The U.S.-China trade package is a landmark win for American workers, farmers and manufacturers. Boeing gets its China market back with 200 aircraft approved for purchase, farmers lock in $17 billion annually through 2028 and rare earth supply chains get stabilized in writing for the first time. These are named sectors, named dollar figures and named timelines — not a vague framework.

The $17 billion agricultural commitment is being sold as a victory, but U.S. farm exports to China were $30 billion annually under Biden before Trump's tariffs cratered them to $8.4 billion in 2025. Celebrating a partial recovery to $17 billion means American farmers are still getting half of what they had. Brazil and Argentina grabbed the market share lost during the tariff war, and that business isn't coming back.


Metaculus Prediction

There's a 50% chance that the effective U.S. tariff rate on goods being imported into the United States will be at least 8.75% at the end of 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.



The Controversies



Go Deeper

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 7.4.1

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.4.1