Winning the Trade War: China Backs Off Tariffs on U.S. Farm Products

President Donald Trump can claim victory in the latest round of the battle for fair trade with China as Beijing has announced that it will remove tariffs on U.S. Agricultural products without requiring any reciprocal moves from the Trump administration.

China’s Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced Friday that it will postpone tariffs on U.S. pork and soybean products until at least September 2020.

China is largely dependent upon imports of soybeans and pork to feed its population. The tariffs have caused global soybean and pork prices to rise and Beijing risked riots as food prices skyrocketed inside the country.

The move will also cause a change in tactics by Democrats as they had hoped to weaponize the farm product tariffs to hurt Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

China has been losing the trade war since Trump began defending U.S. markets in 2016. A large number of major manufacturers have moved out of or announced plans to move out of China in recent months and the exodus has greatly impacted China’s place in the world as a manufacturing center.

As a show of good faith and a wish to return to negotiations, President Trump offered to delay a 25-30% tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports by two weeks, moving the implementation date from Oct 1 to Oct 15, 2019.

A Chinese delegation will meet with the U.S. Trade Representatives team in Washington, D.C. in early October.