Sales of US agricultural products suffer as China imposes import ban
14/08/2019
On August 13, the US said it would remove some items from the September list and delay the imposition of tariffs on some others until December 15. However, it will impose the new 10% tariffs on a large number of products on the original list, including many types of leather gloves, clothing and footwear.
China has said on August 5 that it would impose the ban on purchases of US agricultural goods as a counter-measure to this. A spokesperson for China’s ministry of commerce said in a statement: “We confirm that the companies concerned [state-owned enterprises] are suspending new purchases of agricultural products from the US. We hope that the US side will formally implement the consensus reached by the leaders of both sides [at the late-June meeting of the G20] in Osaka, will keep its word and meet its commitment to create the necessary conditions for co-operation between both countries on agriculture.”
Figures from the US Department of Agriculture show that, in 2017, China imported agricultural products from the US with a value of $19.5 billion. In 2018, following the start of the ever-worsening trade dispute between the two countries, this figure fell to $9.2 billion. Estimates for 2019 suggest a further decline of 20%.
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