Key facts
- Commerce Ministry spokeswoman Huang Ling said China is open to buying more US farm goods once the tariff arrangement takes effect.
- Huang said tariffs on around 90% of the covered products would fall to most-favored-nation rates.
- Huang said the reductions take effect simultaneously after each side completes its domestic legal procedures.
- Huang said China hopes the US will jointly reduce tariffs, cut non-tariff barriers and expand market access.
China's Ministry of Commerce said on November 5 that Beijing remains open to expanding agricultural imports from the United States, but that the agreed reciprocal tariff reduction must be implemented first. Spokeswoman Huang Ling told a regular press conference the arrangement covers $30 billion worth of products on each side.
Huang said China and the United States agreed the reciprocal cuts at their eighth round of economic and trade consultations, held in New York and Washington, D.C., from September 20 to 23. Under that agreement, tariffs on around 90% of the covered products would be lowered to most-favored-nation rates, the tariff level a country applies to imports from members of the World Trade Organization absent a specific trade deal.
Huang said the reductions would be implemented simultaneously after each side completes its domestic legal procedures. She said agricultural trade is an important part of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and that expanding it could raise incomes for businesses and farmers in both countries.
Huang also said China hopes the United States will work with it to reduce tariffs, cut non-tariff barriers and expand market access, which she said would create more favorable conditions for agricultural trade.