China slaps extra tariffs on imports of major US farm products
It also expanded controls on doing business with key US companies.
China announced on Tuesday it will impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of major US farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and also expanded controls on doing business with key US companies.
The tariffs announced by the Commerce Ministry are due to take effect from March 10, though goods already in transit will be exempt until April 12.
They follow US President Donald Trump’s order to raise tariffs on imports of Chinese products to 20% across the board. Those took effect on Tuesday.
Imports of US-grown chicken, wheat, corn and cotton will face an extra 15% tariff, it said. The tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafoods, fruit, vegetables and dairy products will be increased by 10%.
Separately, China’s customs said it was suspending the import of US lumber effective immediately, saying it had detected “forest pests such as bark beetles and longhorn beetles” in imported logs.
China also suspended the soybean import qualifications of three U.S. companies after saying it detected ergot – a kind of fungi – as well as seed-coating agents in soybeans exported to China.
The Commerce Ministry also launched its first anti-circumvention investigation into the import of fibre optic products from the US, which it said was initiated at the request of a domestic fibre optic company.
The evidence submitted showed that US exporters “may have circumvented China’s anti-dumping measures” on certain products, the ministry said.
Also on Tuesday, Beijing placed 10 more US firms on its unreliable entity list, which would bar them from engaging in China-related import or export activities and from making new investments in the country.
The firms listed are TCOM,Limited Partnership; Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC; Teledyne Brown Engineering; Huntington Ingalls Industries; S3 AeroDefense; Cubic Corporation; TextOre; ACT1 Federal; Exovera and Planate Management Group.
Separately, China added 15 US companies to its export control list, including aerospace and defence companies such as General Dynamics Land Systems and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, among others.
“China has decided to include 15 US entities that endanger China’s national security and interests in the export control list, prohibiting the export of dual-use items to them,” the ministry said in a statement.
While the tariffs Beijing has imposed on American farm products are sweeping, China held back from imposing higher tariffs across the board, and “both sides showed restraint”, said Sun Chenghao, an international relations professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University.
“The US hopes to get a trade deal with China in the end,” Mr Sun said. “For the long term, it is possible that China and the US will continue to negotiate, but the current atmosphere is not good.”
By raising tariffs, the US has repaid kindness with enmity, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
“I would like to reiterate that the Chinese people have never been afraid of evil, do not believe in ghosts, and have never been bullied,” Mr Lin said.
China is a major importer of American farm products, though its purchases dipped after MrTrump launched a trade war during his first term in office, and then recovered.
The Commerce Ministry included about two dozen US farm exports subject to additional 15% tariffs, including chicken feet and wings, and 711 items subject to an extra 10% tariff.
In 2021-22, the United States logged record export values to China for soybeans, corn, beef, chicken meat, tree nuts and sorghum. Cotton exports to China also rebounded, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
US farm exports to China totalled 33.8 billion dollars (£26.6 billion) in fiscal in 2023 and 36.4 billion dollars (£28.6 billion) in fiscal in 2022.
China has been diversifying its sources for farm imports, buying more soybeans from Brazil and Argentina, among other growers.
Beijing clearly is prepared to hit back, said Xu Botao, research director of the GoGlobal Institute at EqualOcean, a Shanghai-based Chinese think-tank.
“The Chinese government and Chinese companies will not be easily frightened and give up resisting unjust trade pressure from the US and other countries,” Mr Xu said.
The end result will depend on how the US side approaches Beijing, analysts said.
“So far, the US hasn’t sent a positive signal. If the US wants to talk, it should not damage the atmosphere,” Mr Sun said.
