China slaps extra tariffs of up to 15% on imports of major U.S. farm exports : NPR

BEIJING — China made an announcement on Tuesday regarding the imposition of additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy, and beef, along with expanded controls on doing business with U.S. companies.

The tariffs announced by the Commerce Ministry are set to take effect from March 10. These tariffs are in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to 20%. The new tariffs went into effect on Tuesday.

Specifically, imports of U.S. grown chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton will face an additional 15% tariff, while the tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products will be increased by 10%.

Furthermore, Beijing added 10 more U.S. firms to its unreliable entity list, prohibiting them from engaging in China-related import or export activities and making new investments in the country.

The newly listed firms include TCOM, Limited Partnership; Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC; Teledyne Brown Engineering; Huntington Ingalls Industries; S3 AeroDefense; Cubic Corporation; TextOre; ACT1 Federal; Exovera; and Planate Management Group.

This move follows China’s previous addition of two firms, PVH Group and Illumina, to the unreliable entities list last month.

Additionally, China has added 15 U.S. companies to its export control list, including aerospace and defense companies like General Dynamics Land Systems and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

“China has decided to include 15 U.S. entities that endanger China’s national security and interests in the export control list, prohibiting the export of dual-use items to them,” the ministry stated.

China is a major importer of American farm products, but its purchases fluctuated due to the trade war initiated by Trump. However, in recent years, the U.S. has seen record export values to China for various agricultural products.

In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, U.S. farm exports to China totaled $36.4 billion and $33.8 billion, respectively. Despite this, China has been diversifying its sources for farm imports, procuring more soybeans from Brazil and Argentina, among other countries.

The Commerce Ministry has identified about two dozen U.S. farm exports subject to an additional 15% tariff, including chicken feet and wings, as well as 711 items subject to an extra 10% tariff.