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Bloomberg
8 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
China Soy Imports at Record as US Spat Spurs More Brazil Flows
China's soybean imports climbed to an all-time high last month as the world's biggest buyer scooped up large volumes mainly from Brazil amid concerns that its trade war with the US could boost global prices. Soybean purchases by the Asian nation more than doubled from a month earlier to 13.92 million tons in May, China's customs data showed. Imports rose 73% in April.
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
China's May exports slow, deflation deepens as tariffs bite
BEIJING, June 9 (Reuters) - China's May exports growth slowed to a three-month low as U.S. tariffs slammed shipments, while factory-gate deflation deepened to its worst level in two years, heaping pressure on the world's second-largest economy on both the domestic and external fronts. Exports expanded 4.8% year-on-year in value terms in May, slowing from the 8.1% jump in April and missing the 5.0% growth expected in a Reuters poll, customs data showed on Monday, despite a lowering of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods which had taken effect in early April. Imports dropped 3.4% year-on-year, deepening sharply from the 0.2% decline in April and worse than the 0.9% downturn expected in the Reuters poll. Exports had surged 12.4% year-on-year and 8.1% in March and April, respectively, as factories rushed shipments to the U.S. and other overseas manufacturers to avoid U.S. President Trump's hefty levies on China and the rest of the world. While exporters in China found some respite in May as Beijing and Washington agreed to suspend most of their levies for 90 days, tensions between the world's two largest economies remain high and negotiations are underway over issues ranging from China's rare earths controls to Taiwan. Trade representatives from China and the U.S. are meeting in London on Monday to resume talks after a phone call between their top leaders on Thursday. China's May trade surplus came in at $103.2 billion, up from the $96.18 billion the previous month. Beijing in May rolled out a series of monetary stimulus measures, including cuts to benchmark lending rates and a 500 billion yuan low-cost loan program for supporting elderly care and services consumption. The measures are aimed at cushioning the trade war's blow to an economy that relied on exports in its recovery from the pandemic shocks and a protracted property market slump. Producer and consumer price data, released by the National Bureau of Statistics on the same day, showed that deflationary pressures worsened last month. The producer price index fell 3.3% in May from a year earlier, after a 2.7% decline in April and marked the deepest contraction in 22 months, while consumer prices extended declines, having dipped 0.1% last month from a year earlier. Cooling factory activity also highlights the impact of U.S. tariffs on the world's largest manufacturing hub, dampening faster services growth as suspense lingers over the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks.
CNA
30-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
China set to resume Japanese seafood imports halted due to Fukushima worries
TOKYO: China has agreed on procedures to resume imports of Japanese seafood products, Japan's government said on Friday (May 30), marking a step towards ending a nearly two-year trade ban. Officials from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and China's Customs reached the agreement during a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding that China-bound seafood exports were expected to resume after China completes "necessary procedures". China's General Administration of Customs said that the two countries made "substantial progress" following another round of talks on the trade of Japanese aquatic products. The agreement comes as both governments work to ease tensions stemming from the 2023 release of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It "marks one important milestone", Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said during a regular press conference. "We will continue calling for the resumption of Japan's exports of its beef to China and the lifting of import restrictions on agricultural and marine products from ten prefectures," including Fukushima and Tokyo, Hayashi added. Those prefectures were not included in the agreement. Under the agreed measures, Japan will register fishery processing facilities with Chinese authorities, and exports will include inspection certificates confirming the absence of radioactive substances, the farm ministry said. The Nikkei newspaper, which reported the news earlier, said that China is expected to formally announce the resumption of seafood imports from Japanese prefectures outside the Fukushima region in the near future. China imposed the ban on Japanese seafood imports shortly after Tokyo began releasing the treated Fukushima wastewater, prompting a diplomatic and economic backlash.
Straits Times
03-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
China quietly exempts about a quarter of US imports from tariffs: Sources
A list of exempted US products covering 131 items like pharmaceuticals has been reportedly circulating among traders and businesses over the past week. PHOTO: AFP – China has quietly started to exempt some US goods from tariffs that likely cover around US$40 billion (S$51.9 billion) worth of imports, in what looks like an effort to soften the blow of the trade war on its own economy. A list of exempted US products covering 131 items such as pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals has been circulating among traders and businesses over the past week. Some of these products were previously reported by Bloomberg. It is unclear where the list came from and it has not been officially confirmed, but at least half a dozen companies in China have been able to bring in goods from the list without paying tariffs, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The 131 items are worth about US$40 billion, or around 24 per cent of Chinese imports from the US in 2024, Bloomberg calculations based on China Customs data show. The move echoes steps taken by the Trump administration to exempt smartphones and other electronics from its own 'reciprocal' tariffs, including the 145 per cent tariffs on China. Those US exemptions apply to about US$102 billion, or roughly 22 per cent, of US imports from China in 2024, according to estimates by Mr Gerard DiPippo, associate director of Rand China Research Centre. The notion that China's exemptions largely mirror the US ones suggests this is more of a strategic move to match Washington's actions rather than purely a goodwill gesture. It also points to Beijing's priority of shielding its own economy from the fallout of the trade war. 'China is likely trying to mitigate damage to its economy by avoiding a collapse in key imports,' Mr DiPippo said. 'The exemptions shouldn't be interpreted as a signal to the US, as China has been quiet about its exemptions, working through business channels and avoiding public statements.' There are tentative signs the US-China trade stand-off could be shifting. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said on May 2 that it is assessing the possibility of trade talks with the US, giving a lift to equity markets. 'The US has recently sent messages to China through relevant parties, hoping to start talks with China,' the ministry said in a statement released during a national holiday. 'China is currently evaluating this.' Chinese officials began asking foreign companies as early as the second week of April to name the US imports that are essential to their operations and cannot be replaced easily, said the people. Since then, some of those items have received waivers from China's 125 per cent tariffs on the US goods. The list of exemptions is said to be dynamic and will be continuously adjusted depending on China's needs, according to people familiar with the matter. More products may be added, while some could be removed if China manages to find substitutes, said one of the people. China's General Administration of Customs did not respond to a faxed request for comment during a Chinese holiday. Bloomberg reported earlier that the Chinese government is considering lifting tariffs for certain medical devices and industrial chemicals like ethane. Officials are also discussing waiving the tariff on aircraft leasing. While the US imports far more from China than the other way around, the exemptions highlight areas where Beijing still relies on American products. For example, China is the world's largest plastics manufacturer, but some of its factories depend on ethane – a feedstock mainly imported from the US. China has already granted exemptions to two domestic plastic producers that depend heavily on US ethane, according to analytics firm Vortexa. The trade war has hit both economies hard. China's factory activity slipped into its sharpest contraction since December 2023, an early sign of the strain from the tariffs. Major banks including UBS Group and Goldman Sachs Group have cut their forecasts for China's full-year growth to around 4 per cent or lower – well below Beijing's official target of around 5 per cent. Dr Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University's Centre for American Studies in Shanghai, said while he could not confirm the exemptions, they would not be surprising. 'Tariffs are a kind of self-inflicted thing,' he said. 'And we want to control the damage as much as we can.' BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
South China Morning Post
25-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China said to waive retaliatory tariffs on some US chip imports in sign of trade war thaw
China has waived its retaliatory 125 per cent tariffs on certain semiconductor imports from the US, according to a report from Chinese business magazine Caijing on Friday, citing industry sources. Advertisement The report said at least eight integrated circuit (IC)-related tariff codes were exempted from levies imposed earlier this month in response to US President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese products. However, China has maintained tariffs on memory chips. China's customs authorities also informed domestic companies on Thursday that any duties paid for these exempted semiconductor imports from April 10 to 24 would be eligible for refunds, according to the report. China's customs administration has not issued any public notice regarding this change. Multiple phone calls to the news office of China Customs on Friday morning went unanswered. The China Semiconductor Industry Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Caijing report was deleted from its website and official WeChat channel by noon Friday. Advertisement
