China has created a list of American goods that will be exempted from 125% tariffs, and is unofficially informing individual companies about it. About this informs Reuters agency.
Beijing has previously granted tariff exemptions for certain categories of goods, including certain pharmaceuticals, microchips and aircraft engines. The Chinese authorities asked companies to name critical goods that they would like to import duty-free. At the same time, the very fact of the existence of the so-called “white list” was not advertised before.
With this non-public approach, China can maintain a tough public rhetoric—in particular, insisting that it will resist until the U.S. lifts its 145% tariffs—while making covert concessions.
At the moment, it is not known exactly which products were included in the list, as well as how many there are in general, since the list has not been officially made public. Instead, companies receive confidential notifications from the authorities about the availability of goods exempted from duty.
A representative of a pharmaceutical company that markets American drugs in China said the information was provided by local officials in Shanghai’s Pudong district. This company previously lobbied for an exemption because it uses American technology in its production. Certain companies were advised to contact the relevant government bodies themselves to find out if their goods could qualify for duty exemption.
We will remind that the administration of Donald Trump is currently considering the option of reducing tariffs for China from 145% to 50-65%, with the aim of easing trade tensions.
Beijing says the U.S. must completely remove unilateral tariff restrictions if it really wants to resume talks. China is also considering the possibility of partially exempting American imports from the 125% tariff and asking companies to identify the relevant goods
