China has announced suspension of its 24 per cent additional tariff on US goods for one year, but decided to retain a 10 per cent levy, said the State Council’s tariff commission on Wednesday, following last week’s meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Busan on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
The commission also announced that China will lift some tariffs of up to 15 per cent on US agricultural goods from November 10.
US-China relations took a hit for the worse last month after China placed curbs on export of rare earth minerals, following which Trump announced software export curbs and threatened to place additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods.
The world’s top agricultural buyer, China has put restrictions on the exports of rare earth and critical minerals to most countries, citing safety concerns as the minerals are vital components in electronics, semiconductors, jet engines, electric vehicles, smartphones etc. The country also re-imposed export restrictions on certain fertilisers, which is a jolt for countries like India, which depend on China for most of their fertiliser needs.
Global trade this year has been disrupted by high tariffs imposed by the US, escalating trade wars across the world, but especially between the US and China, two of the world’s largest economies. The truce reached between them last week, which includes China’s agreement to buy US soybeans and pause restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets is said to be fragile.
