U.S., China strike early deals on select nonsensitive goods, with more details due Monday

What Greer said on TV

On CNBC's Squawk Box, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. and China have agreed on a set of goods both sides want to treat more favorably. He pointed to U.S. agricultural products and medical devices, as well as Chinese consumer items considered nonsensitive. He stopped short of naming specific products, laying out how duties might change, or saying when any new terms would take effect.

Greer said the administration plans to share "a lot more details" Monday about progress in recent weeks. The idea is to identify parts of trade that could be insulated from future tariff moves so some goods can move on a "more preferential basis" even if either country imposes new tariffs.

What is in scope and what is not

Talks are running through the new U.S.-China "Board of Trade," which Greer described as focused on "pure trade issues," not national security restrictions on advanced technology. "All those export controls that are national security issues, we take those off the table," he said.

The Board of Trade was announced after President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, with a brief to manage trade in nonsensitive products. Companies have been waiting to see which categories could be parked under that framework for lower tariffs.

Truce timeline, shifting flows, and the Xi Trump readouts

Washington and Beijing decided to keep their wider cease-fire on tariffs in place for an additional two months. The U.S. is viewing that window as "compliance periods" to verify China is meeting earlier promises, such as buying U.S. soybeans and other farm goods and allowing access to rare earths used by American manufacturers. "Whenever we have these compliance periods that roll over, it's a time for us to assess, reassess and determine whether or not to continue this period of relative peace on the economic front with the Chinese," Greer said.

Tariffs have already reworked trade patterns. According to Greer, the U.S. goods gap with China has dropped by nearly 40%, but he noted that supply-chain changes mean some of that commerce has moved to other nations. Mexico has been one beneficiary.

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Census Bureau data show U.S. purchases from Mexico hit an all-time high of $60.6 billion in July. Using seasonally adjusted data, the U.S. goods deficit with Mexico widened that month by $7.2 billion, ending at $27.5 billion. As Greer put it, "When you impose tariffs ... you see market actors starting to do what market actors do, which is respond to new terms of trade, respond to new incentives in the market." He added, "We're actually seeing a lot come back to North America."

Greer's remarks followed Trump's meeting with Xi at the White House on Thursday. A Chinese state media readout, translated by CNBC, quoted Xi as saying, "The two sides can continue AI dialogue, exchange views on risks and benefits, and together guard against the misuse or malicious use of AI." On Friday, Trump called the meeting "very productive" on Truth Social and said Xi appeared receptive to his preferred term for artificial intelligence, "SUPER INTELLIGENCE."

What it means for your money

If Monday's update spells out categories slated for easier treatment, expect companies to rejigger sourcing and pricing around whatever gets carved out. History still applies here: when you impose tariffs, market players respond to the new terms of trade. The tell for household investors will be which goods make the list, whether tariff relief is meaningful, and how quickly supply chains pivot.

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