The Chinese government said it will cut import tariffs for goods including frozen pork, pharmaceuticals, paper products and some high-tech components starting from Jan. 1, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance.
In addition to frozen pork, the import of which may relieve meat shortages due to the outbreak of swine fever, China will reduce levies on products including frozen avocados, non-frozen orange juice, new asthma and diabetes drugs, key components and machines for manufacturing integrated circuits, and some logs and paper products, it said.
While the move isn’t directly related to the U.S.-China trade war, it supports Beijing’s claim to be further opening its economy as it pursues a deal with the Trump administration. The reduction will mean China has a total of 859 types of products enjoying provisional import tariffs lower than the existing Most-Favored-Nation rates charged in 2020. The reductions for 2020 follow a similar move last year.
China’s leadership has reiterated its intention to further lower duties in order to meet specific domestic consumption needs. Goods from New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Iceland, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Georgia, Chile and Pakistan will have even lower levies under the re-negotiated free trade agreements with China, according to the statement.
Among the hundreds of items slated for import tariff cuts were smartphone camera sensors, glass used in liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens found in high-end TVs and smartphones, and semiconductor testing and sorting equipment.