China exempts animal feed ingredients from retaliatory tariffs

According to Reuters, China has announced its first batch of tariff exemptions for 16 types of U.S. products, days ahead of a planned meeting between trade negotiators from the two countries. The exemptions will apply to U.S. goods including animal feed ingredients whey and fish meal.

The items on the two tariff exemption lists will not be subject to additional duties imposed by China on U.S. goods “as countermeasures to U.S. Section 301 measures,” the ministry said in a statement. The exemption will take effect on September 17 and be valid for a year through Sept. 16, 2020.

The exempted list pales in comparison to over 5,000 types of U.S. products that are already subject to China’s additional tariffs. Moreover, major U.S. imports, such as soybeans and pork, are still subject to hefty additional duties, as China ramped up imports from Brazil and other supplying countries.

Beijing has said it would work on exempting some U.S. products from tariffs if they are not easily substituted from elsewhere. The United States is by far China’s largest supplier of whey, which is an important ingredient in piglet feed and difficult to source in large volumes from elsewhere.

The United States had also exempted imports of 110 Chinese products from tariffs in July, including high-value products such as medical equipment and parts.

Reuters article