China Keeps 10% Tariff on U.S. Soybeans Despite 25 Million-Ton Buying Pledge
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Oct 5
China Keeps 10% Tariff on U.S. Soybeans Despite 25 Million-Ton Buying Pledge
1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Oct 5
Summary
U.S. soybean exports were left off the tariff-exemption list agreed after the September Trump-Xi summit, leaving Beijing’s 10% retaliatory duty in place.
The soybean industry says that tariff still prices U.S. supplies out of China’s lucrative private market, with most pledged purchases likely flowing through state-run buyers instead.
China has committed to buy 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually for the next three years and has already fulfilled at least 11 million tons this year, according to USDA data.
Republican lawmakers and industry groups are pressing the Trump administration to revisit soybeans in upcoming Trump-Xi meetings at APEC in November and the G20 in December.
The two sides also agreed to create an agriculture working group, leaving soybean duties as one of the main unresolved trade barriers after the summit.