Key points
- China contemplating response to fresh US tariffs
- China biggest market for US agricultural exports
- American agricultural exports often get targeted
ISLAMABAD: China is reportedly contemplating tariffs on US agriculture and food products as a retaliatory measure for the Trump administration’s hike in levies on Chinese exports that are scheduled to take effect on Tuesday.
According to Bloomberg, the response from Beijing will likely include tariffs and non-tariff measures.
The Global Times, which didn’t provide specific details, is occasionally used to signal China’s positions to the outside world.
The news has raised stakes in an escalating trade war between the world’s top two economies.
Last week, US President Donald Trump threatened China with the extra 10 per cent duty, resulting in a cumulative 20 per cent tariff.
“Blackmail”
He accused Beijing of not doing enough to halt the flow of fentanyl into America, which China said was tantamount to “blackmail.”
“China is studying and formulating relevant countermeasures in response to the US threat of imposing an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese products under the pretext of fentanyl,” Global Times reported on Monday.
“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’s commerce ministry and the US embassy in Beijing have not issued any statements.
Punching bag
According to Reuters, China is the biggest market for US agricultural products, and the sector has long been vulnerable to being used as a punching bag in times of trade tensions.
“Despite a decline in imports since 2018, any tariffs on key U.S. agricultural products like soybeans, meat and grains could have a significant impact on U.S.-China trade as well as U.S. exporters and farmers,” Genevieve Donnellon-May, a researcher at the Oxford Global Society, told the news agency.
“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,” she added.
“So, in theory, it should be in a better place to find alternative markets. However, the reality may prove far more complex.”
