China has exempted some US imports from its tariffs of 125% and is asking companies to identify the critical goods they need tax free, According to the companies notified, in the clearest signal so far of Beijing’s concerns about the economic consequences of the commercial war.
The measure, which follows Washington’s statements to descale the tension, It indicates that the two greatest economies in the world were prepared to stop their conflict, which had frozen much of the trade between them, increasing the fears of a global recession.
Beijing’s exemptions – which business groups expect dozens of industries to extend – made the US dollar slightly upload and lifted the stock markets in Hong Kong and Japan.
“As a measure of Quid Pro quo, it could provide a potential way to reduce tensions,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, main advisor to the center of China of the Board Conference, a group of experts.
The reading, which followed the regular monthly meeting of the Politburó, showed that Beijing was also ready to entrust and Free a commercial warfare if necessary to survive Washington and support the pain of the breakdown of their relationship.
A working group from the Ministry of Commerce is collecting lists of articles that could be exempt from tariffs and He is asking companies to submit their own requests, according to a person with knowledge of that activity.
The Ministry said Thursday that he had held a meeting with more than 80 foreign companies and business cameras in China to discuss the impact of American tariffs on the investment and operation of foreign companies in the country.
“The Chinese government, for example, has been asking our companies what kind of products matter to China from the United States that they cannot find anywhere else, which would close its supply chain,” Michael Hart, president of the US Chamber of Commerce in China said.
Hart added that some member pharmaceutical companies had reported that they could import medicines to China without tariffs. He believed that exemptions were specific to each medication, not for the entire industry.
The executive director of the French Aviation Motors Safran said Friday that it had been informed last night that China had granted tariff exemptions to “a certain number of pieces of aerospace equipment”, including engines and landing trains.
The tariff exemptions that Beijing is considering could provide cost relief for companies in China and remove pressure on US exports at a time when the Trump administration has shown signs of wanting to reach an agreement with Beijing.
The European Union Chamber of Commerce also said that it had raised the question of tariff exemptions to the Ministry of Commerce and was waiting for an answer.
“Many of our member companies are significantly affected by tariffs on critical components imported from the USA.” Said President Jens Eskelund.
On Friday, it was circulating in Chinese social networks and between some companies and commercial groups a list of 131 categories of products that, it is said, are considered tariff exemptions. Reuters could not verify the list, which included items that covered from vaccines and chemicals to reaction engines.
Huatai Securities said the list corresponded to imports to China worth US $ 45,000 million last year.
The Chinese Customs Agency and the Ministry of Commerce did not respond to requests for comments. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they were not familiar with the tariff exemption plans and derived consultations to the competent authorities.
Lasting fight
But he warned: “It is clear that neither the United States nor China want to be the first to try to reach an agreement.”
China has not yet publicly communicated any exemption. A Friday statement of the Politburo, the elite decision -making body of the Communist Party, focused on efforts to maintain stability in the country supporting companies and workers most affected by tariffs.
Although Washington has said that commercial confrontation with China is economically unsustainable and already offered tariff exemptions to some electronic products, China has repeatedly said that it is willing to fight until the end unless the United States raises its 145%tariffs.
But the Chinese economy entered the commercial war with increasing unemployment, deflationary pressures and a greater concern that an increasing accumulation of exports without selling could further lower internal prices.
While China had a commercial surplus of one billion dollars in 2024, it also depends on the United States for key importsincluding the petrochemical ethane necessary to manufacture plastics and some medications.
Large pharmaceutical companies, including Astrazeneca and GSK have at least one manufacturing site in the US for medications sold in China, according to data from the Chinese government.
The main ETAN processors have already requested tariff exemptions to Beijing because the United States is the only supplier.
Exemptions can be just a small step in a long process.
“For those goods manufactured in the United States that cannot be acquired in any other country, I think there is interest in exempting them from import tariffs, even if this is done unilaterally,” said Montufar-Helu.
But for other goods, such as energy and agricultural products, I believe that the calculation is very different, since there are other sources that China can access.
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