US, China agree to oppose international waterway tolls, but gaps remain on rare earths, AI and Taiwan

The United States and China have agreed to oppose tolls on international waterways, a stance expected to put added pressure on Iran, which has sought to control passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Both sides highlighted the results of their summit in separate official statements, but notable gaps emerged on several key issues.

The White House said in a fact sheet Friday (local time) that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to "build a constructive relationship of strategic stability based on respect, fairness and reciprocity."

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday that the two countries had agreed to build a "constructive strategic stability relationship between China and the United States based on respect, fairness and equality," announcing what it called "eight major outcomes" of the summit. Beijing highlighted that the phrase "respect, fairness and equality" was newly added to the formulation used at the May summit.

On trade, both sides cited as shared achievements the agreement to apply lower tariffs on $30 billion worth of non-sensitive goods and the launch of bilateral trade and investment committees.

Those steps represent progress built on the consultative framework established at the Beijing summit in May.

Differences emerged in the details, however. The White House fact sheet said the two sides were continuing consultations aimed at addressing US concerns over supply chain shortages in critical minerals, including rare earths, with the goal of restoring adequate supply levels.

China's official summit readout made no mention of rare earths.

China controls more than half of global rare earth mining and over 90 percent of refining and processing capacity. Washington has long identified a stable rare earth supply as a priority, particularly after Beijing used export controls on the materials as leverage during trade tensions with the US.

The White House also announced the specific goods eligible for tariff reductions and China's plans to purchase US coal, but neither item appeared in China's readout.

The two sides agreed to continue dialogue on AI but reached no further concrete agreements.

Taiwan was discussed at the summit but was absent from both sides' official statements.

Chinese state media, including Xinhua, reported earlier that Xi had told Trump at the meeting to maintain Washington's opposition to "Taiwan independence."

Trump told reporters that he had discussed Taiwan with Xi and that Xi understood his views on the issue very well, though he did not elaborate on what position he had conveyed.

The US has long maintained that it does not support Taiwan independence but opposes any form of coercive action to change the status quo.

After the May summit in Beijing, Trump said of Taiwan that Xi "has very strong feelings" on the matter and added, "I made no commitments."

On Iran, both leaders said they agreed in opposing Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons and the imposition of tolls on passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The alignment was seen as Xi endorsing Trump's core principles on Iran. However, no concrete measures were agreed upon — such as China halting military or economic support for Tehran — leaving the potential for continued friction.

The White House said the two leaders discussed international issues including Russia, North Korea and Iran, while China's readout omitted any reference to Russia or North Korea.

Politico, the US political news outlet, assessed that there had been little substantive progress on trade, saying the divergence between the two readouts showed that the two sides had still failed to find common ground on core trade disputes.