Pork producers pray new China tariffs will be short- - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

News

Pork producers pray new China tariffs will be short-lived

03/04/2018
New tariffs on imports into China of US pork (and other products) came into effect on April 2. China’s ministry of commerce described the measures as a “discontinuation of concessions” in response to the imposition of tariffs by the US on steel and aluminium imported from China and the war of words has led commentators around the world to talk of an escalating trade war between the two and to wonder out loud which party will blink first.

The new measures mean worrying times for producers and exporters of pork in the US. Chief executive of the National Pork Producers Council, Neil Dirks, said in a statement that the measures add a tariff of 25% to existing an existing tariff of 10% on shipments of pork from the US to China.

He said pork producers were disappointed and hoped the extra 25% tariffs would be “short-lived”.

Mr Dirks said: “Exports are extremely critical to the financial wellbeing of our producers. Over the past 10 years, the US, on average, has been the top exporter of pork in the world, and we’re the lowest-cost producer. In any given year, we export pork to more than 100 nations, and those exports support 110,000 US jobs. Last year, nearly $6.5 billion of US pork was exported, which was more than 26% of US pork production. China was the third largest value market, with more than $1 billion in US pork being shipped there last year.”


Related stories:

US President threatens 20% tariff on EU vehicles 25/06/2018

Leatherbiz.com cannot be held responsible for content if the language setting is changed from English.

The translations provided by Google Translate are automated and therefore might not be accurate and may contain incorrect, offensive or misleading language. We offer this facility as a guide only.