China to exempt US pork and soybeans from additional trade war duties, in response to Trump’s tariff delay

Xinhua News Agency reported exemption is in response to the US’ decision to postpone planned tariff increase from October 1 to October 15

It comes after US President Donald Trump spoke on Thursday of the possibility of an ‘interim trade deal’ over the coming weeks

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Soybeans are unloaded from a grain truck in Tiskilwa, Illinois. China has also imposed 30 per cent in additional tariffs on yellow soybeans – the sort the US grows in abundance – including 25 per cent in June and 5 per cent on September 1, bringing the current tariff level to 33 per cent. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:25pm, 13 Sep 2019Updated: 11:49pm, 13 Sep 2019

China has announced that it will exclude imports of US soybeans, pork and other farm goods from additional trade war tariffs, opening the door for significant purchases of agricultural products.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday that China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce made the exemption in response to the US’ decision of postpone an increase in the tariff rate on $250 billion of Chinese goods from October 1 to October 15.

It comes after US President Donald Trump spoke on Thursday of the possibility of an “interim trade deal” over the coming weeks.

Beijing will allow Chinese businesses to purchase a “certain amount of farm products such as soybeans and pork” from the United States, according to the Xinhua report. “China’s market is big enough and there’s great potential to import high-quality US farm products.”

It added that Chinese authorities hoped that “the US will honour its word and fulfil its promises to create favourable conditions for cooperation for the two countries in the agriculture sector”.

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