China Providing Immediate Opportunities for Agricultural Tariff Exemptions

BEIJING, CHINA – Last week, China’s Ministry of Finance announced it will allow importers to apply for exemptions from tariffs on nearly 700 U.S. products. Beginning March 2nd, importers can apply for one-year tariff exemptions and the ministry will consider an application within three business days. Earlier in the month, China announced it would cut tariffs in half on $75 billion of U.S. imports, slashing tariffs on some U.S. goods from 5 percent to 10 percent. Punitive tariffs on U.S pork were also reduced by 5 percent, leaving the total duty at 63 percent. If all restrictions on exports to China were removed, in 10 years, U.S. pork would double sales, creating 184,000 new American jobs while reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China by nearly six percent, according to the National Pork Producers Council.