By Ryan Hanrahan
Reuters’ Joe Cash, Ella Cao and Ethan Wang reported that “China will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, including duties on farm goods, after last week’s meeting of the two countries’ leaders, Beijing confirmed on Wednesday, but imports of U.S. soybeans still face a 13% tariff.”
“The tariff commission of the State Council, or cabinet, will scrap duties of up to 15% imposed on some U.S. agricultural goods from November 10, while keeping levies of 10% introduced in response to President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ duties,” Cash, Cao and Wang reported. “Investors on both sides of the Pacific were relieved when Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, easing fears that the world’s two largest economies might abandon talks to resolve a tariff war that has disrupted global supply chains.”
“The tariff cut nonetheless leaves Chinese buyers of U.S. soybeans facing tariffs of 13%, a cost traders said makes U.S. shipments still too expensive for commercial buyers, compared to Brazilian alternatives,” Cash, Cao and Wang reported. “‘We don’t expect any demand from China to return to the U.S. market with this change,’ said one trader at an international trading company. ‘Brazil is cheaper than the United States and even non-Chinese buyers are taking Brazilian cargoes.’”