China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to submit a pact upgrading their free trade areas to their leaders for approval in October, according to China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday.

Domestic politics in trading partner countries, as well as China's influence, are complicating Trump's tariff negotiations.

The total value of goods exchanged between the US and China plunged below 2020's pandemic era low in the second month of the new tariff war between two nations.

Australia's leader Anthony Albanese will visit China and meet with President Xi Jinping this weekend as he seeks to strengthen ties with Canberra's largest trading partner. Regional security and trade will take centre stage during the prime minister's six-day trip spanning three cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

President Donald Trump extended his "Liberation Day" tariff pause and sent letters to trading partners announcing new tariff rates for Aug. 1.

The U.S. pork industry exports about 55 percent of pork offal, sometimes called pork variety meats, to China, according to the National Pork Producers Council. These are the internal organs of hogs, like the kidneys, liver and tongue, which are commonly used in Chinese dishes but are not a part of most American diets.

Its new deal with Vietnam and its fresh tariff threats issued to many other countries seem designed to reduce China’s role in their supply chain. Countries that had hoped to stay out of the new cold war now fear they are being forced to pick a side. To appease the world’s biggest market, they must anger the world’s biggest trader.

The trade truce between Washington and Beijing may be holding for now, but China is increasingly wary about what’s happening elsewhere: US efforts to forge deals that could isolate Chinese firms from global supply chains.

The U.S. gets almost all of its fireworks from China, and the industry is warning that tariffs on Chinese imports could limit supply and send prices soaring.

US apparel imports from China have plunged dramatically since April – and fashion companies plan further reductions.