On Monday morning the Chinese Government made good on a threat to Donald Trump and the US that if the US did not remove the newly imposed steel and aluminum tariffs that the Chinese government would retaliate by imposing its own tariffs on US products imported into China. On March 23, 2018 the Chinese Ministry of Commerce released a list of 128 US imports that would be receiving the tariffs of 15% on top of current tariff rates unless the US removed the new steel and aluminum tariffs. Now on Monday April 2, 2018 the Chinese Ministry of Commerce made good on that threat by imposing the proposed tariffs on 128 US imported products from, fruits and nuts to wine and pork. The pork industry has received the largest hit with a 25% tariff on pork products entering China from the US.
In the nuts category Pecans were not listed to receive additional tariffs, however almonds, pistachios, walnuts, macadamias, and hazelnuts were on the list and are now subject to an additional 15% tariff.
[ CORRECTION: Pecans are covered under the “08029090 – Other Fresh or Dried Nuts” section of the list. PECANS ARE COVERED IN THE NEW TARIFFS, and are now subject to (7 + 15) 22% tariffs when imported from the US. This does not apply to Mexican Pecan nuts, South African pecan nuts, or Australian Pecan Nuts. ]
The complete list can be found below, we have downloaded the list from the China Ministry of Finance Website and Translated to English. While Pecans were not specifically listed, there is a category listed “Other fresh or dried nuts” that some speculate may cover pecans. We should note that the trade war between the US and China is not over yet, Chinese officials mentioned earlier that they would enact new tariffs in two stages, meaning that there could be more tariffs to come. Chinese officials released the list of products to its public for period commenting and feedback, some news organizations noted this showing how some Chinese citizens are supporting the new tariffs with comments such as “I’ll never buy American fruit again”, posted on public comment boards similar to our twitter and Facebook.
[ CORRECTION: US Pecans are now at 22% tariff when entering China. The above article has been corrected. ]
The trade wars are far from over as the Trump administration plans to release, by April 6th, a new list of tariffs for Chinese goods entering the US and Chinese officials have already said they will retaliate with more tariffs of their own on US goods entering China.
Export Tariff Notice issued by China’s Ministry of Finance – attachment at bottom of page
http://gss.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/zhengcefabu/201804/t20180401_2857769.html
