China Imposes 'Retaliatory Tariffs' on U.S. Agricultural Products Over 'Trump Tariffs'

China Suspends U.S. Log Imports
Citing "Pest Infestation" Detection

China will impose retaliatory tariffs of 10-15% on certain U.S. agricultural and livestock products starting from the 10th, in response to the 'tariff increase' by the Donald Trump administration.

The Tariff Commission of the State Council of China announced at 1 p.m. on the 4th (China time; midnight on the 4th Eastern U.S. time) that tariffs on 29 U.S. products including chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton will be increased by 15%, and tariffs on 711 products including sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products will be raised by 10%.

This retaliatory tariff measure will take effect from the 10th of this month. When the U.S. first implemented a 10% general tariff increase on China on the 4th of last month, China immediately announced retaliatory tariffs and allowed a six-day grace period before enforcement; the same grace period has been set this time as well.

China explained that the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products will be added on top of existing tariff rates by 10-15%. Although current bonded, reduced, and exempt tariff measures will remain, the additional tariffs are unavoidable. Furthermore, goods shipped before March 10 and imported into China between March 10 and April 12 will not be subject to the tariff increase.

Simultaneously with the State Council’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs, the Ministry of Commerce filed a complaint against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism, as it did last month. China also employed various non-tariff retaliatory measures. The General Administration of Customs announced that "ergot and seed coating soybeans were detected among imported U.S. soybeans," and to protect Chinese consumers' health and ensure food safety, it suspended the export qualifications of three U.S. companies?CHS Inc., Louis Dreyfus Company, and EGT?for soybean exports to China starting from the announcement date.

In a separate notice, the Customs Administration stated that quarantine forest pests such as wood borers and longhorn beetles were found in U.S. logs, and that imports of U.S. logs will be suspended starting from that day. Additionally, the Ministry of Commerce added 10 U.S. defense companies including Tecom, S3 AeroDefense, and Textron to the 'unreliable entities' list, banning their exports and imports with China as well as new investments in China.