March 4, 2025

China targeting US agricultural exports in response to tariffs, Chinese media reports

China has US agricultural exports in its cross hairs as it prepares countermeasures against fresh US import tariffs, China's state-backed Global Times reported, raising the prospect of an all-out trade war between the world's top two economies.

US President Donald Trump has threatened China with an additional 10% duty, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff, while accusing Beijing of not having done enough to halt the flow of fentanyl into the United States, which China's Commerce Ministry said was tantamount to "blackmail".

"China is studying and formulating relevant countermeasures in response to the US' threat of imposing an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products under the pretext of fentanyl," Global Times reported on March 3, citing an anonymous source.

"The countermeasures will likely include both tariffs and a series of non-tariff measures, and US agricultural and food products will most likely be listed," the report added.

China remains the biggest market for US agriculture products despite a decline in imports since 2018, after Beijing slapped tariffs of up to 25% on soybeans, beef, pork, wheat, corn, and sorghum in retaliation for duties on Chinese goods imposed by Trump.

"Despite a decline in imports since 2018, any tariffs on key US agricultural products like soybeans, meat and grains could have a significant impact on US-China trade as well as US exporters and farmers," said Genevieve Donnellon-May, a researcher at the Oxford Global Society. "The US agricultural sector has had time to prepare for a second Trump administration and trade war 2.0, with lessons learned from the first Trump administration.

"So, in theory, it should be in a better place to find alternative markets. However, the reality may prove far more complex."

The world's top agricultural importer and second-largest economy brought in US$29.25 billion worth of US agriculture products in 2024, a 14% drop from a year earlier, extending a 20% decline seen in 2023.

- Reuters