Would a leaders' handshake remove the 20% fentanyl tariff?

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No handshake can remove tariffs—only formal policy changes executed through legal authority. After Trump and Xi's Busan meeting on October 30, 2025, Trump reduced the fentanyl tariff from 20% to 10%, but this required his directive to USTR and Customs to modify the Section 301 tariff schedules, not just a symbolic agreement. The tariff reduction was part of a broader trade package: China pledged to intensify fentanyl crackdowns (addressing precursor chemical exports flowing to Mexican cartels), pause rare earth export limits for 12 months (critical for U.S. tech and defense supply chains), and restart soybean imports (relieving pressure on Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois farmers hit by China's retaliatory tariffs). Trump also suspended the USTR's ongoing shipbuilding probe into China's state-backed subsidies for one year, halting new port fees on Chinese vessels that were raising costs for global shipping lines. These concessions required administrative implementation through federal agencies—handshakes signal intent, but bureaucratic execution delivers policy changes.

Would a leaders' handshake remove the 20% fentanyl tariff?

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