The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a statement on Wednesday, March 23, announcing the tariff exemption on 352 items imported from China, the AgroPages portal reports. The new regulation applies to commodities purchased from China between October 12, 2021 and December 31, 2022. 

"In October last year, USTR announced that it planned to exempt tariffs from 549 items of Chinese imports again, opening the decision for public comment. After almost half a year, 352 of the 549 products that had been exempt from tariffs in previous times were confirmed," explains editor Erwin Xue.

Verified by AgroPages, the list of 352 commodities contains the herbicide paraquate (up to 45%), with the U.S. import code: 3808.93.1500. The normal import tariff for this code is 6.5%. This exemption means that paraquate imported from China and declared through this code will not be subject to an additional 25% tariff between October 12, 2021 and December 31, 2022.

The U.S. market imports 4,000 to 5,000 tons of paraquate per year, accounting for nearly 10 percent of China's total paraquate exports. Paraquate continues to play an important role as a descant during harvesting in the United States. This exemption has eased, to some extent, the burden of the cost of pesticides on American farmers.

According to the total amount of paraquate exported from China in 2017-2020, Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia, United States, Thailand, Australia, Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay, Taiwan and Vietnam are the top ten destination markets with the highest export volume. To download the full list click on: https://doc.agropages.com/DocShow-3767-e57eeb8b.html

Source: Agrolink