China Slashing Tariffs, Part of Phase One Agreement

BEIJING, CHINA – China says they will slash tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. imports beginning February 14th. The announcement comes as the Chinese are already set to lower tariffs on other goods up to 10 percent. According to the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), punitive tariffs on U.S pork will be reduced to 63 percent, all while other international competitors face just 8 percent tariffs. If all restrictions on exports to China were removed, in 10 years, NPPC says U.S. pork would double sales, create 184,000 new American jobs and reduce the trade deficit with China by nearly 6 percent. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told farm media in San Antonio for the Cattle Industry Convention that the U.S. should be patient with China’s ability to meet its trade pledges, given the coronavirus outbreak. “If they’re really trying and it really just blows the economy out of the water, then we would have to be understanding of that.”