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.

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 exports to China, its largest trading partner, span agriculture and energy but are dominated by iron ore, and Albanese will travel with executives from mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue and hold business events in three cities over six days.

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

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.

Beijing vows to retaliate against those helping Washington cut the country out of supply chains. Yet wielding a stick at its Asian partners has backfired in the past, and the carrots it can offer may be limited by concerns about tech transfer and financing overseas investments.

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 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.

China confirmed that it had agreed with the U.S. to approve the accelerated export of rare earths after President Donald Trump said he had signed a trade deal with Beijing, and said Washington will also lift some of its export restrictions on Beijing in return.

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.

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