China's US food importers seek alternative sources amid looming trade war

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Shanghai’s US pork and beef importers said they are seeking European and Australian partners instead, amid rising trade frictions between China and the US.

Xu Wei is general manager of one of Shanghai’s largest food import companies. Beef and pork are his major products, both of which are the target of China’s tariff plans against the US.

“In total, we used to pay just 24 percent of taxes to sell the US pork in China. But from April 20th, the taxes will rise sharply to over 50 percent,” Xu told CGTN.

But Xu says the tariffs doesn’t have much negative impact on his business, as he was already reaching out to European partners instead, since Trump started to threaten a trade war a few months ago.

“The products that China is raising tariffs on can be easily replaced, but the taxes will deeply hurt the US farmers,” Xu told CGTN.

Xu said China is the world’s largest pork consuming country, not just thanks to the huge population, but also because the vast Muslim regions do not have high demands on pork.

As for beef, China just lifted the ban on the US beef imports last July. Now beef is on the list of China’s planned tariff hikes, depending on if the US President Donald Trump goes ahead with his threat of levying tariffs on 50 billion dollars worth of Chinese products.

“If that happens, the trade war will lead to a major blow the interest of the US beef dealers, as the new found market vanishes after they have already raised their production.” Xu said.

Xu's company was the first in China that started to import the US beef after the ban was lifted last year. But now, the company is seeking alternative suppliers amid rising uncertainty.