16 types of US products qualify for tariff exemptions as announced by China days ahead of the planned meeting between the two countries between China’s top trade negotiator, Liu He, and senior members of the Trump administration US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington.
China’s Ministry of Finance released a list of products that will be excluded from a list of American goods subject to tariffs; cancer drugs, lubricants and pesticides to name a few.
12 of the 16 items have already been taxed including shrimp, lubricant, fish meal (used in animal feeding), and medical linear accelerators, which are used in cancer treatment to which the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council will offer refunds.
The other four items including whey (used in animal feeding), mold release agents, isoparaffin solvent and lubricating base oil will have no refund for the previously-added duties but will be free from tariffs. The United States is China’s largest supplier of whey. It is an important ingredient in piglet feed and difficult to source in large volumes from elsewhere.
The commission will continue to carry out the exemption process for the third round of additional tariffs on US imports worth US$75 billion. Beginning July and August last year, China has imposed several rounds of duties on US goods in retaliation against US Section 301 tariffs, with a 25 percent levy on about US$50 billion of US imports.
The world has its eyes on the two largest economies who have slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods in a bitter trade war which dragged on for over a year and raised the specter of a global recession.
The exemption will take effect on September 17 and be valid for a year through to September 16, 2020, it said.
