China's continuing and frequent use of tariffs, tariff-rate quotas and non-tariff trade requirements and restrictions is limiting and in some cases prohibiting certain U.S. agricultural products from entering the Chinese market, according to a report issued March 22 by the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Between $2.6 billion and $3.1 billion in sales of selected U.S. agricultural products in 2009 were impeded by China's non-tariff measures, according to the report. At the same time, China's tariffs and TRQs inhibited between $1.3 billion and $2.1 billion in sales of a broader range of U.S. agricultural products.
"Results [of the study] suggest that the elimination of Chinese tariffs and nontariff measures could lead to an additional $3.9 billion to $5.2 billion in U.S. agricultural exports to China," the report said.
In 2010, China became the United States' second-largest buyer, taking in 14 percent of total U.S. agricultural exports. The United States supplied 26 percent of China's agricultural imports in 2010, with U.S. agricultural exports to China highly concentrated in a few products. In 2010, soybeans, cotton, hides and skins, and processed animal feed accounted for 84 percent of total U.S. exports. China does not import many grain and meat products in which the U.S. is globally competitive.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), along with ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and former ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said the report shows that the second-largest importer of U.S. agricultural goods must take further steps to remove unfair trade barriers.
"China's unjustified trade barriers are blocking some of our goods such as wheat and beef and hurting job growth in the US," said Baucus, who requested the ITC report. "U.S. producers should have full access to the Chinese market," said Grassley, calling on China to live up to its obligations in joining the WTO a decade ago.
Hatch said he would review China's progress in further opening its markets to U.S. agricultural products, consistent with its international obligations, over the coming months. "Citing alleged food safety concerns, China has opted to outright ban U.S. beef and impose significant restrictions on other U.S. agricultural products, including pork," Hatch said. "Such unjustified claims impede access to the Chinese agricultural market — a major destination for American commodities — and, ultimately, hurt American farmers and ranchers."
The ITC report is available online in PDF format at this link.
