China’s countermeasures target US agricultural and food products
The US has followed through with imposing an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports to the US from 4 March, adding to the 10 per cent he levied in February. The move comes as the Trump administration has also proceeded with 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
In response, China has announced it will impose countermeasures and increase levies on approximately US$21bn worth of US agricultural and food products, according to reporting by Reuters.
“Trying to exert extreme pressure on China is a miscalculation and a mistake,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told a press conference in Beijing.
From 10 March, US imports of fruits and vegetables to China will incur an extra 10 per cent tariff. This measure coincides with additional levies imposed on other agricultural products including meat and dairy, as well as company-specific bans.
According to Reuters, analysts suspect China’s deliberate move to keep its retaliatory tariffs below the accumulative 20 per cent levied by the US leaves a potential opening for further negotiations.
“China’s government is signalling that they do not want to escalate,” Even Pay, an agriculture analyst at Trivium China, told the publication.
The US-China Business Council (USCBC), a non-profit organisation supporting US businesses working in China, said in a statement that raising tariffs on Chinese products was not the way to tackle illegal trade in fentanyl.
“Across-the-board tariffs will hurt US businesses, consumers, and farmers and undermine our global competitiveness,” USCBC president, Sean Stein, said.
Since Trump’s first term, China has significantly reduced its reliance on US imports, building up its domestic production as well as importing from other countries.
