China is going to lift tariffs to allow in more U.S. soybeans and pork, according to Xinhua News, a government-run media outlet. It’s unclear how much of the U.S. commodities will be allowed in, or for how long, under the measure being undertaken by China’s Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, which has granted previous exemptions for U.S. ag commodities as the two countries negotiate an end to their protracted trade war.
“The commission will dedicate a range of goods to be excluded from tariff countermeasures against the U.S. Section 301 measure,” Xinhua said in a Friday posting to its website.
It’s been a whipsaw week for U.S.-China trade relations. On Tuesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply after President Donald Trump said he might not agree to a trade deal with China until after the 2020 elections.
But on Thursday Trump reported that negotiations were going on strong and hinted he may not hit China with new tariffs on Dec. 15, as planned.
“Well, we’ll have to see,” Trump said Thursday when asked if the U.S. would hit China with new tariffs on Chinese goods Dec. 15 and then added that there will be “very major discussions on December 15. Something could happen, but we are not discussing that yet. We are having very good discussions with China, however.”
It is unclear if those discussion would involve the Chinese, but U.S. government sources tell Agri-Pulse that talks are ongoing with the Chinese on a daily basis.
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