Starting February 14, China will halve tariffs on US products such as pork, beef, soybeans and whiskey, the State Council Tariff Commission announced on Thursday (06.02.2020).
In this way, taxes on these products - which also include some of the automotive industry, poultry meat, seafood and chemicals– will be reduced to 5% and 2,5%, compared to the 10% and 5% that were levied on them since 1 September.
The measure, which will affect US goods worth US$75.000 billion, will come into effect at 13:01 p.m. local time (02:01 a.m. in Chile) on February 14.
The Chinese government said that this measure is a response to Washington's announcement that it will reduce tariffs on Chinese products worth US$15 billion from 7,5% to 120.000%, starting on the same date.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce, China announced the decision "pto ease economic and trade tensions and expand cooperation«.
He added that future measures of this kind would depend on the development of relations between the two countries. For the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, it is "a matter ofa sign that China is launching the first phase of the trade agreement with the United States (signed on January 15) despite the coronavirus outbreak.
The United States and China have been engaged in a trade war since March 2018, which has led to an escalation of tension between the two powers with various ramifications, not just economic ones.
Source: Reuters
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