China announces tariff rollback for US soy, pork

China on Friday said it was withdrawing tariffs on soybeans and pork imported from the US amid talks to conclude the first phase of a deal to de-escalate an ongoing trade war between the two largest economies.

According to a statement by the Finance Ministry here, Chinese companies have imported an unspecified number of American goods, and the Tariff Commission of the State Council (Executive) has been carrying out a tariff exclusion for batches of soybeans, pork and other products from the US, reports Efe news.

The Ministry did not specify the amount of imported goods that would benefit from this measure, which comes in the midst of negotiations between Beijing and Washington to ratify the first phase of a pact to end a bitter trade dispute between them.

In July 2018, China had imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on these products in response to a similar measure by Washington.

Although not much detail was known about the latest trade deal, it has been learned that the agreement includes a phased withdrawal of levies that the two parties had imposed on one another during the dispute.

The latest escalation in the trade war, which has resulted in successive tariff hikes from both countries for nearly two years, happened on September 1 with a 10-15 per cent increase in tariffs from Washington on Chinese imports worth $112 billion.

It remains to be seen whether on December 15 the same increase of up to 15 per cent will apply to all other US imports from China, the total value of which would reach $300 billion.

Impact of the trade tensions between the world's two largest economies has not been confined to the bilateral sphere and have had global ramifications.