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US-China relations
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Hilton Root
Opinion
Hilton Root

How drones, tariffs and rare earths could test US-China detente

Proposed bilateral trade and investment boards promise stability, but a lack of clarity around key issues could be weaponised

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Visitors crowd around the DJI stand at the Drone World Congress in Shenzhen on May 21. Photo: AFP
Hilton Root
Hilton Root is a professor of public policy at George Mason University, a former senior adviser at the US Treasury Department, and the author of 10 books on international political economy.
The post-summit detente between Washington and Beijing has moved from diplomatic language to institutional design. Less than three weeks after the summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the US Trade Representative (USTR) asked companies to identify “non-sensitive” Chinese goods that might qualify for tariff relief under a new US-China Board of Trade.

On the same day, the USTR also proposed Section 301 duties on imports from 60 economies, including China, after its forced labour investigation. These parallel moves are the first test of whether the promised trade and investment boards can manage disputes over tariffs, drones, rare earths, licensing and market access.

According to the White House, the two leaders agreed to establish Boards of Trade and Investment as part of their agreement to build a constructive relationship of strategic stability based on fairness and reciprocity. Xi’s account put the emphasis differently, describing stability in terms of cooperation as the mainstay, competition within proper limits, manageable differences and “expectable peace”.

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