On October 20, 2025 (Eastern Time), U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of statements on U.S.-China trade during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House. These statements covered tariff threats, trade agreements, and plans for a China visit.
U.S.-China Tariffs to Surge to 155%
Trump emphasized that if a trade agreement is not reached by November 1, an additional 100% tariff will be imposed on goods imported from China. When combined with the existing 55% tariff, the total tariff rate will reach 155%.
Trump stated, “China’s paying 55% and a potential 155% come November 1st unless we make a deal.”
While sending a tough signal, Trump also expressed optimism about reaching an agreement. He confirmed that a meeting with the Chinese side will be held during the APEC Summit in South Korea at the end of this month.
Analysts believe that a 155% tariff rate could practically disrupt economic and trade exchanges between China and the United States, leading to “decoupling.”
However, given Trump’s inconsistent stance, he is more inclined to maximize interests through negotiations and avoid the worst-case scenario. His repeated threats of tariff hikes and active announcements of China visit schedules are aimed at gaining more leverage in U.S.-China negotiations.
China Imported No U.S. Soybeans in September
Meanwhile, as Trump frequently uses “imposing additional tariffs on China” as a threat, relevant data shows that China imported no soybeans from the United States in September. Instead, its soybean imports from South American countries surged significantly year-on-year.
In sharp contrast, China’s soybean shipments imported from South America last month rose sharply year-on-year. Specifically, China’s soybean imports from Brazil surged by 29.9% year-on-year to 10.96 million tons, accounting for 85.2% of China’s total oilseed imports that month. Its soybean imports from Argentina soared by 91.5% year-on-year to 1.17 million tons, accounting for 9% of the total.
This significant “decline-and-rise” trend indicates that since Trump took office earlier this year, U.S. soybean exports to China have fallen to a historic low due to U.S.-China trade frictions.
A U.S. market research firm predicts that if China does not return to the U.S. market by mid-November, the U.S. may lose 14 million to 16 million tons of soybean orders to China. Losing China means losing half of the market.
U.S.-India Tariffs May Be Significantly Reduced
In other news, on October 21, India’s media outlet Mint quoted informed sources as saying that India and the United States are close to finalizing a trade agreement. Under this agreement, the current punitive tariffs of up to 50% on Indian export goods are expected to be significantly reduced to 15%-16%.
Energy and agriculture have become core issues as key bargaining chips in the negotiations. Mint reported that India may agree to gradually reduce oil imports from Russia in exchange for the U.S. tariff concessions.
Earlier, according to The Times of India, the first-phase results of this trade agreement are expected to be finalized between October and November. The goal of the agreement is to increase bilateral trade volume to 500 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
In September this year, India’s exports to the United States had dropped sharply due to high tariffs. At the same time, President Trump issued another warning to India, closely linking its energy policy to trade tariffs, making the need to reach an agreement more urgent for India.
I can further optimize the vocabulary of this English article to be more in line with the professional expression habits of the freight forwarding industry. Do you need me to adjust it?
