Morning Reading: The Ministry of Commerce Highlights the Consensus Reached in China-U.S. Economic and Trade Talks, While 6 Steel Mills Raise Prices

◎ Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Xi Jinping noted that the economic and trade teams of both countries had engaged in in-depth discussions on key economic and trade issues, reaching a consensus on how to address these challenges.

◎ The Ministry of Commerce announced the consensus reached in China-U.S. economic and trade consultations: The U.S. side will cancel the additional 10% "fentanyl tariff" imposed on Chinese goods, while continuing to suspend for another year the 24% retaliatory tariffs already levied on Chinese products. Additionally, the U.S. will pause the implementation of its 50% "penetration rule" under export controls, as well as the Section 301 investigation measures targeting China's maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries—also for one year. In response, China will adjust or temporarily suspend its own corresponding countermeasures.

◎ On October 30, local time, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution by a vote of 51 to 47, ending the comprehensive tariff policy imposed globally by U.S. President Trump. It is reported that the U.S. Senate announced it has approved a joint resolution to terminate the national emergency declared by the president specifically to enforce the global tariffs.

◎ Some media outlets reported that the Group of Seven nations will announce the establishment of a "Critical Minerals Production Alliance" to counter China's dominant position in the market. In response, the Foreign Ministry urged the G7 to firmly adhere to the principles of market economy and international trade rules, cease undermining the global economic order through "small-circle" practices, and work together to safeguard the stable growth of the world economy.

◎ The Ministry of Finance and four other departments have issued a notice on refining duty-free store policies to boost consumption, effective from November 1, 2025. The policy will optimize the management of domestic goods' tax refund/exemption mechanisms, actively supporting sales of domestically produced products at both port-of-entry duty-free shops and downtown duty-free stores.

◎ The Ministry of Commerce has released the "Opinions on Expanding Green Trade," outlining 16 specific measures across three key areas to promote trade optimization and upgrading. The document emphasizes enhancing the international competitiveness of green and low-carbon products.

◎ Central Bank: In the third quarter of 2025, the weighted average interest rate for newly issued commercial personal housing loans nationwide was 3.07%.

◎ The European Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 2% for the third consecutive time, while the Bank of Japan maintained its policy rate steady at 0.50%.

◎ The Eurozone's GDP grew by 1.3% year-on-year and 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, beating market expectations.

◎ On October 30, national major port iron ore transactions totaled 740,000 tons, down 22.2% from the previous day; meanwhile, mainstream traders reported building steel sales of 90,200 tons, a 21.3% decrease compared to the prior day.

◎ This week, supply of the five major steel products reached 8.7529 million tons, up 1.2% from the previous week, with rebar production showing a particularly noticeable increase. Total inventory stood at 15.1374 million tons, declining 2.6% week-on-week, while weekly consumption hit 9.1642 million tons—among which construction material consumption rose by 5.1% compared to the prior week, and plate consumption increased by 1.3% week-on-week.

◎ This week, Tangshan's major warehouses and ports held 1.2592 million tons of steel billets under the same measurement criteria, a decrease of 82,100 tons from the previous week.

◎ This week, the capacity utilization rate of the 523 sampled coking coal mines was 84.8%, down 0.3% from the previous week. Daily raw coal production averaged 1.903 million tons, a decrease of 6,000 tons compared to the prior week, while raw coal inventory stood at 4.316 million tons, dropping by 115,000 tons from the previous week.

◎ This week, the total inventory of imported sinter fines at 114 steel plants stood at 26.8346 million tons, a decrease of 1.2881 million tons compared to the previous period. Meanwhile, the total daily consumption of imported sinter fines was 1.1074 million tons, down 37,700 tons from the prior period.

◎ The "Henan Province Steel Industry Quality Improvement and Upgrade Action Plan" has been issued. It emphasizes accelerating corporate restructuring and consolidation, supporting leading enterprises—both within and outside the province—to integrate local steel resources through methods such as capital increases with equity stakes, cross-shareholding, and mixed-ownership reforms. Additionally, the plan aims to guide short-process steelmakers in merging with scrap steel recycling companies, ensuring stable supply channels for scrap steel while enhancing the quality of scrap steel processing. By 2027, the proportion of special and high-quality steel production is expected to rise to around 50% of total steel output.

◎ Twenty-seven listed steel companies announced their Q3 performance reports. In terms of net profit, 23 companies turned a profit, with Baosteel Shareholding Co., Ltd. ranking first, reporting a net profit of 7.959 billion yuan.

◎ SAIC Motor's net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached 2.083 billion yuan in the third quarter, representing a year-on-year increase of 644.88%.

◎ Midea Group's net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached 37.883 billion yuan in the first three quarters, representing a year-on-year increase of 19.51%.

◎ On October 29, a centralized groundbreaking ceremony was held for key projects of China's Pingmei Shenma Group. The nine major projects commencing construction this time have a total investment of nearly 6 billion yuan.

◎ China Passenger Car Association: From October 1 to 26, retail sales of passenger vehicles nationwide reached 1.613 million units, down 7% year-on-year and 4% compared to the same period last month. Year-to-date cumulative retail sales totaled 18.621 million units, representing an 8% increase compared to the same period last year.

◎ According to the China Index Academy, as of now, debt restructuring and reorganization applications from 21 troubled property developers have been approved or completed, with the total scale of debt resolution amounting to approximately RMB 1.2 trillion.