US says talks with Beijing on ethanol tariff positive, but ‘it’s never over till it’s over with the Chinese’
- Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue adds disparaging note of caution to proceedings
- Source in Washington says biofuels were bright spot in last week’s US-China talks
The US government on Tuesday said talks with China about reducing Beijing’s tariff on US ethanol products were “positive”, but that discussions were not over.
“There have been conversations with China on reducing that tariff on ethanol, which would be good for our domestic corn industry,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said. “While things look positive, it’s never over till it’s over with the Chinese.”
The United States and China have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat tariff battle since July, a dispute that has upset financial markets and supply chains and cost the world’s two largest economies billions of dollars.
Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs last summer of up to 70 per cent on US ethanol shipments, which made exports to the key market uneconomical.
US officials were pressing China to make changes to address their long-standing concerns over industrial subsidies, technology transfer demands and intellectual property rights.