February 7, 2020

China's new tariffs on US soybeans, pork and beef after February 14 cuts

New tariff reductions on US soybeans and pork, among other commodities and energy items, will be applied 1:01 PM local time on February 14, 2020, reported Reuters.

The reduction comes after the US-China Phase 1 trade deal, signed on January 15, 2020 and only applies to additional tariffs imposed in September last year. It does not include total duties on goods since 2018.

Soybeans will drop from 30% to 27.5%. Last year, China purchased 16.94 million tonnes of US soybeans, higher than the 16.6 million tonnes purchased in 2018. Tariff exemptions to some US soybean imports are already in place.

Tariffs on US pork will fall from 60% to 55%. China and Hong Kong received 49% higher year-on-year US pork imports in value at US$1.18 billion from January to November 2019. This is expected to increase further as China continues to import more meat to supplement dwindling domestic pork supplies caused by the African swine fever outbreak.

Tariffs imposed on beef imported from the US will drop from 35% to 30%.

-      Reuters.