China says US farmers may never regain market share lost in trade war
The country has ‘basically stopped’ importing soybeans from United States, according to vice agriculture minister
China can easily find other countries to buy agricultural goods from instead of the US, its vice agriculture minister said, warning that American farmers could permanently lose their share of the Chinese market as a result of the trade war.
“Many countries have the willingness and they totally have the capacity to take over the market share the US is enjoying in China. If other countries become reliable suppliers for China, it will be very difficult for the US to regain the market,” Han Jun told official Xinhua news agency in an interview on Friday.
He also warned that American farmers could lose the position in the Chinese market they have spent several decades building up. Han said they may not be able to make up the losses brought by retaliatory tariffs, even with the White House’s planned US$12 billion aid package for farmers caught in the dispute.
He said Beijing had imposed duties on 90 per cent of the agricultural goods the country imports from the United States since the trade war kicked off at the start of last month, with limited impact on China.
“Levying additional tariffs will cause a great decrease in exports of US agricultural products to China,” Han said. “But the impact on China is very limited, due to the diversified import sources.”