China’s tariffs on US agricultural products take effect

Beijing began imposing tariffs Monday on many farm products from the United States, for which China is the largest overseas market. It is the latest escalation of a trade fight between the world’s two-largest economies.

The Chinese government announced the tariffs last week, shortly after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese products for the second time since he took office in January. The Chinese tariffs will include a levy of 15% on U.S. products including chicken, wheat and corn, as well as 10% on products including soybeans, pork, beef and fruit.

Beijing said that goods that had already been shipped before Monday and imported by April 12 would not be subject to the new tariffs. Because crops such as soybeans, wheat and corn, in particular, tend to travel by sea, this means that China’s customs officials will actually collect few tariffs until shipments arrive in China after leaving the United States on Monday or later.

A spokesperson for the National People’s Congress, which is now holding China’s annual legislative session, said last week that Trump’s latest tariffs had “disrupted the security and stability of the global industrial and supply chains.”

The Chinese government also said it was blocking 15 U.S. companies from buying Chinese products unless it granted special permission, including a manufacturer of drones that supplies the U.S. military. And it said it was blocking 10 other U.S. companies from doing business in China.

Trump imposed a 10% tariff on almost all imports from China in early February, and raised the tariff to 20% last week.

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