(Reuters) – China will impose additional tariffs of 10%-15% on certain U.S. imports from March 10, according to a statement from the Chinese finance ministry on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%, launching new trade conflicts with the top three U.S. trading partners.
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OLE HOUE, DIRECTOR OF ADVISORY SERVICES, IKON COMMODITIES, SYDNEY
“It is broadly negative for U.S. agricultural markets. It is going to have a bearish influence on prices. There are enough corn and soybean supplies in the world for China to make the switch, it is more of an issue for the U.S., 30% of U.S. soybeans still go to China.”
EVEN PAY, AGRICULTURE ANALYST, TRIVIUM CHINA
“It’s notable that Beijing’s response is restrained. Trump has now imposed a total of 20% tariffs on all Chinese products. China’s tariffs impact a limited number of U.S. products, and remain below the 20% level. This is by design. China’s government is signalling that they do not want to escalate, they want to deescalate.”
ROSA WANG, ANALYST, SHANGHAI-BASED AGRO-CONSULTANCY JCI
“From the supply and demand perspective, the short-term impact on the domestic market won’t be significant. The reasons are: 1. It is currently the South American soybean season, while the U.S. soybean is in the off-season; 2. The amount of U.S. soybeans purchased by China has decreased, and the proportion of U.S. soybeans in China’s soybean imports has dropped to 17%.
“However, the large number of products involved this time will add further difficulties to China’s aquatic product exports to the U.S., especially tilapia exports. With the additional 10% tariff, the tariff on tilapia exports to the U.S. will reach 45%, making it basically impossible to export to the U.S.”
(Reporting by Reuters Asia bureaus; Compiled and edited by Subhranshu Sahu)
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