Tariff wars: China slaps duties on US chicken
02 Sep 2010
Beijing: Amidst a gradually escalating trade war China has now imposed anti-subsidy duties on US chicken products for a period of five years, its commerce ministry said Wednesday.
The move comes hard on the heels of a decision by the US Commerce Department to impose duties on aluminium products from China (See: Tariff wars: US penalises aluminum imports from China).
US broiler and chicken products will attract tariff rates ranging from 4 per cent to 30.3 per cent, the ministry announced. It said US producers benefited from government subsidies that lowered feed prices and hurt Chinese competitors.
The tariffs apply to chicken parts and whole birds but not to live chickens or cooked products such as chicken sausage.
China imported 305,600 tons of US chicken products in first half of 2009, the ministry said on its website. This constituted 89.2 per cent of all of China's chicken product imports in the first half of 2009, the ministry said.
Beijing and Washington are currently engaging each other in an ever widening circle of disputes over access to each other's markets for steel pipes, movies, books and other goods.
It is being pointed out that trade disputes have begun to proliferate even as both governments try to boost exports and generate domestic employment amid weak global demand.