As a trade dispute increased rapidly with the United States China announced the removal of import tariffs on animal feed ingredients including soybeans, soymeal and rapeseed from five Asian countries from July 1. The Ministry of Finance said Beijing is seeking alternative supplies of the commodities.
Tariffs on soybeans are currently 3 percent, with 5 percent on soybean cake and 2 percent on fishmeal originating in Bangladesh, India, Laos, South Korea and Sri Lanka. Soybeans are China’s biggest agricultural import from the United States by value.
Apart from India, the countries included are relatively small soybean producers. None of them exported any of the oilseeds to China last year.
Instead the government had planned the tariff cuts since March, the cuts indicate that China is taking steps to reduce its dependence on U.S. soybeans between the increased trade dispute between the two countries.
