China says ‘rampant’ US protectionism threatens – Business News
US protectionism is undermining agricultural cooperation with China, Beijing’s ambassador to Washington mentioned, warning that farmers mustn’t bear the price of the commerce warfare between the world’s two largest economies.
China in March slapped levies of up to fifteen% on $21 billion value of American agricultural and food merchandise in retaliation for sweeping US tariffs.
Washington and Beijing this month prolonged a truce for 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on one another’s items.
Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng mentioned agriculture is a promising space of cooperation between the international locations. Getty Images
Agriculture has emerged as a main level of competition between China and the US because the superpowers are locked in a tariff warfare launched by President Trump. REUTERS
US agricultural exports to China fell 53% within the first half of the 12 months from the identical period in 2024, with a 51% decline in soybeans, Xie mentioned within the speech to a soybean industry occasion in Washington on Friday.
“American farmers, like their Chinese counterparts, are hardworking and humble,” Xie mentioned. “Agriculture should not be hijacked by politics, and farmers should not be made to pay the price of a trade war.”
Agriculture has emerged as a main level of competition between China and the US because the superpowers are locked in a tariff warfare launched by President Trump.
The envoy mentioned agriculture is a promising space of cooperation and a “pillar of bilateral relations.” China has a comparative benefit in labor-intensive merchandise, whereas the US excels in land-intensive bulk commodities by way of mechanized, large-scale manufacturing, he mentioned.
Last month, US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins mentioned Washington would curb farmland purchases by “foreign adversaries,” together with China.
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The Department of Agriculture mentioned it had fired 70 overseas contract researchers after a national security review meant to secure the US food provide from adversaries together with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
“It goes without saying that protectionism is rampant, casting a shadow over China-US agricultural cooperation,” mentioned Xie, in keeping with the transcript of a speech revealed by the Chinese embassy on Saturday.
US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has mentioned the US curb farmland purchases by “foreign adversaries,” together with China. REUTERS
Xie dismissed the US considerations. “Chinese investors hold less than 0.03% of US agricultural land, so where does the claim of ‘threatening US food security’ even come from,” he mentioned, calling the US restrictions a “political manipulation.”
US soybean exporters risk lacking out on billions of {dollars} value of gross sales to China this 12 months as commerce talks drag on and consumers within the high oilseed importer lock in cargoes from Brazil for cargo during the important thing US advertising and marketing season, merchants say.
