The Glossary
Board of Trade
The standing U.S.-China consultative mechanism agreed at Busan, activated September 2026.
Definition
The Busan Agreement established a Board of Trade as a standing structure for managing commercial disputes below leaders' level — in the tradition of the defunct Strategic & Economic Dialogue and the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. It was formally activated in the September 2026 extension, with working groups expected to cover agriculture, exports and enforcement coordination.
Why it matters
Institutionalized dialogues are the difference between a truce and a regime: if the Board survives the January 2027 deadline, it becomes the first durable management layer of the tariff era.