China will halve tariffs on US$75bn worth of US imports next week covering 1,717 products, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said today (6 February).
The move will take effect from 14 February and will see tariffs cut to 5% from 10% on some US goods, and from 5% to 2.5% on others. Some media reports said seafood is among the more than 1,000 items.
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According to the Commission, the tariff cuts apply to the additional levies imposed by China last year that came into effect from 1 September.
China may be making a reciprocal response to pledges made in December by President Donald Trump as part of a preliminary trade deal reached in so-called “phase-one” talks. He said then that a new set of US tariffs due to be imposed on Chinese imports in December had been cancelled, while China promised to increase purchases of US soybeans, poultry and other agricultural products.
However, market speculation suggests the new China measures are a protective response to the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan in Hubei province late last year and has since spread to around 20 countries. More than 500 infected people in China have so far died.
“China has decided to halve the tariff rates after the US side announced on January 16 to halve its 15-percent additional tariffs on Chinese products worth some $120 billion on February 14,” according to an unnamed official with the commission quoted in a statement on the Ministry of Finance website.
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By GlobalData“To ease economic and trade tensions and expand cooperation, the Chinese side decided to adjust related measures accordingly,” the official said. “Further adjustment will mainly depend on future development in the economic and trade relations between the two countries. It is our hope that both sides will work together toward ultimately removing all additional tariffs.”
