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China announces extra tariffs on $19.5 billion of U.S. farm products

(see update of 10-percent tariff list)

China announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products today that will be added to imports of products that accounted for about $19.5 billion of Chinese imports of farm goods from the United States last year. Based on calendar-year 2024 import data from China's Customs Administration web site, 15-percemt tariffs will be added to $3.43 billion worth of U.S. agricultural imports and 10-percent tariffs will be added to $16.06 billion of U.S. agricultural imports.

Among the $3.4 billion in U.S. products targeted for 15-percent tariffs, cotton, corn, wheat and chicken accounted for most of the imports from the United States last year. According to China's Customs Administration, calendar year imports from the United States were as follows:

  • Cotton imports from the United States totaled $1.85 billion, comprising 35% of China's cotton imports last year. 
  • Wheat imports from the U.S. totaled $600 million, 17% of the total.
  • Corn imports from the U.S. totaled $560 million, 15% of China's corn imports last year.
  • Chicken imports from the U.S. totaled $419 million, 14% of all chicken imports. Chicken feet and paws made up more than half of chicken imports ($228 million, 14% of all imports) 

Among the $16.1 billion of U.S. products that will be assessed 10-percent tariffs, soybeans were by far the largest component, followed by sorghum, beef, and swine offal.

  • Soybean imports from the U.S. totaled $12 billion in 2024, 23 percent of China's soybean imports according to China's customs data. The volume was 22.12 million metric tons. (In addition to these totals China has a separate tariff line for non-GMO soybeans which China did not import from the U.S. last year.)
  • Sorghum imports from the U.S. totaled $1.7 billion, 66.8% of China's sorghum imports in 2024. The volume was 5.68 million metric tons. 
  • Beef imports from the U.S. totaled $1.430 billion, 14 percent of the total.
  • Swine offal imports from the U.S. totaled $695 million, 28% of imports. 
  • Imports of U.S. pork totaled $164 million, 4 percent of all imports.

The importance of China as a market for U.S. products targeted for tariffs is indicated by USDA export data for calendar year 2024: 
  • China accounted for 51 percent of U.S. soybean exports   
  • China accounted for 90 percent of U.S. sorghum exports
  • China accounted for 28 percent of U.S. cotton exports
  • China accounted for 2 percent of U.S. corn exports 
  • China accounted for 9 percent of U.S. wheat exports
  • China accounted for 64 percent of U.S. swine offal exports and 5 percent of swine meat exports
  • China accounted for 15 percent of U.S. exports of beef and products

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