AreaChina (Mainland)
Commodity GroupOilseeds, oils and meals
CommoditySoybeans, soybean meal, rapseed, fishmeal
Date01/06/2018
Policy CategoryTrade
Policy InstrumentFree trade agreement
DescriptionAnnounced the removal, as of 1 July 2018, of tariffs on soybeans, soybean meal, rapeseed and fishmeal imported from Bangladesh, India, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka. The measure is part of trade facilitation instruments scheduled under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA).
NotesChina announced the removal, as of 1 July 2018, of tariffs on a large number of products including soybeans, soybean meal, rapeseed and fishmeal imported from Bangladesh, India, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka. The measure follows amendments in trade facilitation instruments under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) that were planned since March 2018. For the above listed commodities, the tariffs applied prior to the removal were the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rates of, respectively, 3 percent, 5 percent, 9 percent and 2 percent. Considering that, in recent years, none of the five trade partners sold substantial amounts of the named commodities to China, the tariff removal is unlikely to impact Chinas trade, at least in the near term even against the backdrop of the on-going Sino-US trade dispute (see below) and its repercussions on Chinas sourcing of soybeans and other feedstuffs.
