MOFCOM Spokesperson Gao Feng speaks at a press conference on Thursday. Photo: Chu Daye/GT

China's tariff authority is evaluating applications by domestic companies to lift tariffs on some US agricultural products, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday.

Both state-owned and private companies have been inquiring with US exporters about the prices of agricultural goods including soybeans, cotton, pork and sorghum and transactions have already been made, MOFCOM spokesperson Gao Feng told a regular briefing on Thursday.

With some Chinese importers having applied to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council to lift tariffs on US agricultural products, the commission is evaluating the applications and will handle it according to stipulated procedures, said Gao.

China and the US held the 12th round of trade talks in Shanghai from Tuesday to Wednesday, which were "frank, efficient, constructive (and included) in-depth exchanges on major economic and trade issues," said Gao.

During the talks, "the two sides discussed that China would increase US agricultural product purchases according to its own demand, and that the US would create favorable conditions for the purchases."

Domestic companies will continue to inquire about the prices of more products such as corn and dairy items. As long as the prices are reasonable and the products are of good quality, it is expected that there will be new purchases, reported the Xinhua News Agency on Sunday.

Agricultural products shipped from the US have declined more than 32 percent since 2018 to the level of 10 years earlier, even as China's agricultural imports reached a record high of $136.7 billion in 2018, said Cao Derong, president of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import/Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products, during a seminar held in Beijing in May.

The Shanghai talks had two themes: reflecting on the past and finding out why bilateral talks hit a stalemate in May, as well as looking to the future, confirming principles and methods that future talks would use.

The next round of high-level trade talks will be held in the US in September, said Gao.

MOFCOM also urged the US to keep its promise on removing Huawei from the blacklist in real terms as soon as possible and stopping its practice of using national power to crack down on Chinese companies.
Newspaper headline: Beijing reviews applications for tariff removal on US agricultural products