China plans to exclude American farm goods, including soybeans, from tariffs in the
latest move to ease trade tensions before the two countries restart trade talks
next month.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Friday that China welcomed
President Donald
Trump’s decision to delay tariffs by
two weeks and said it will exempt U.S. agricultural products such as soybeans
and pork from additional tariffs.
These
farm goods add to the 16 types of U.S. products that
will be exempt from tariffs.The exemption will be valid for a year through to
Sept. 16, 2020.
The
move came after Trump said Thursday that he would consider an interim trade deal
with China, even though he would not prefer it.
China’s
agriculture buying has been a sticking point in the trade battle as Trump has
repeatedly accused China of not following through on its promises. China said
Thursday that domestic firms have started making inquires about prices of U.S.
soybeans and pork. Chinese importers reportedly bought a total of 600,000
metric tons of soybeans from U.S. Pacific Northwest export terminals for
October to December.
Source: CNBC