China Plans to Offer Major Trade Concessions, but Skepticism Abounds
China abruptly terminated an anti-dumping probe into imported US sorghum on Friday, a signal that Beijing is trying to lower tensions with Washington as the latter seeks a more balanced trade relationship.
China's Commerce Ministry said on Friday it was halting its anti-dumping investigation into imports of sorghum from the United States, saying measures it imposed would affect consumers and were not in line with the public interest.
Hours earlier, it dropped an anti-dumping probe into USA sorghum imports in a conciliatory gesture as top officials meet in Washington.
The announcement comes as senior Chinese and United States officials are meeting in Washington for a second round of trade talks aimed at averting a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
China's vice premier, Liu He, met with President Donald Trump and a USA negotiating team led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday in the first of two days of talks.
In April, China forced US sorghum exporters to put up a 178.6 percent deposit on the value of sorghum shipments to the country after launching an investigation in February following Trump's imposition of steep tariffs on imports of solar panels and washing machines.
It said that higher sorghum prices would eventually impact on consumers.
A high-level Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He is now in Washington for trade negotiations with the US. "The next USA sorghum crop will be harvested in August", he told the news agency Reuters. Bloomberg News cited a Trump administration official as saying that Beijing sought to cut its surplus by $200 billion annually, matching a demand by the United States made earlier this month.
The deposit scheme brought trade to a halt and disrupted supply chains worldwide, with nearly two dozen ships carrying USA sorghum stranded at sea, as merchants and buyers scrambled to sell cargoes at big discounts elsewhere.
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Corn, soybean and soymeal futures fell on the news as worries over feedmakers having to find alternative ingredients eased.
Chinese buyers have slowed soybean purchases in recent weeks.
The Commerce Ministry stated it was ending the anti-dumping probe as a result of it could have raised prices for customers.
"This is great news!"
"Now they are showing goodwill by halting its anti-dumping investigation into sorghum imports, but it is a cheap way of showing goodwill as the U.S. doesn't have much sorghum left to export". "We will clear our goods immediately today".
The Chinese promises would be largely illusory, economists cautioned, given the structural hurdles in China to buying more American exports and the sheer amount of goods the United States would have to produce to meet Beijing's demand, the daily reported.
The U.S. goods deficit was $375 billion a year ago. Archer Daniels Midland warned earlier this month it will take a $30 million hit to trading profit due to the dispute.
"The government won't compensate you for the losses out of reselling and demurrage".
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