China News, Beijing – March 11, 2025 : China has fired back at the United States with a salvo of retaliatory tariffs targeting American agricultural goods, escalating the burgeoning trade war sparked by President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies.
Highlights
- China’s Retaliation: China imposed 15% tariffs on U.S. chicken, wheat, and corn, and 10% on soybeans and pork, targeting $22 billion in American agricultural exports in response to Trump’s tariff hikes.
- Farmers Hit Hard: The levies threaten U.S. farmers’ market share in China, worsening economic strain in the agricultural sector and echoing losses from Trump’s first-term trade war.
- Escalating Trade War: Beijing’s move, paired with tariffs on Canadian goods, signals a broader counteroffensive against Trump’s policies, raising fears of a “Trumpcession” as markets falter.
US - China Trade War
Effective Monday, March 10, Beijing imposed levies of 15% on U.S. exports like chicken, wheat, and corn, alongside 10% duties on soybeans, pork, beef, and fruit—hitting an estimated $22 billion worth of American farm products.
The move, announced last week by China’s Ministry of Commerce, comes as a direct counterpunch to Trump’s decision on March 4 to double tariffs on Chinese imports from 10% to 20%, alongside imposing 25% duties on goods from Canada and Mexico.
The Chinese tariffs zero in on America’s agricultural heartland, a sector already reeling from years of trade disputes and now facing fresh wounds.
China, once the largest market for U.S. soybeans and a key buyer of poultry and pork, has signaled it’s ready to turn elsewhere—potentially to Brazil, Argentina, or its own domestic producers—for cheaper alternatives. “This is a calculated strike,” said Han Shen Lin, China country director at The Asia Group. “Beijing wants to hurt Trump’s voter base while keeping the door cracked for negotiations.”
The ministry framed the levies as a defense against “unilateral and bullying” U.S. actions, accusing Trump of destabilizing global supply chains.
The timing couldn’t be worse for American farmers. With planting season decisions looming, the new tariffs threaten to slash market share in China just as Trump’s policies promise to protect U.S. interests. “We’re the first to get hit in these trade wars—always are,” said Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, speaking to CBS News. “Farmers are hurting, and there’s no playbook for this.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that China’s retaliatory measures could cost farmers billions in lost exports, echoing the pain of Trump’s first-term trade war when a $28 billion bailout was needed to prop up the sector.
Trump, addressing Congress on March 4, had touted his tariffs as a win for American workers, claiming they’d force nations like China to “pay up” for drug trafficking and trade imbalances.
Yet, the blowback has been swift. Markets shuddered Monday as the Chinese tariffs kicked in, with the Dow and S&P posting sharp losses amid fears of a “Trumpcession.” Soybean futures plummeted, and poultry producers warned of layoffs if demand doesn’t rebound. “Tariffs are a lose-lose,” argued economist Emily Harper of Georgetown University. “The U.S. consumer pays more, farmers lose markets, and no one’s winning—except maybe the rhetoric.”
For now, the tit-for-tat leaves American agriculture in the crosshairs. Trump has hinted at further tariff hikes—yesterday raising Canadian steel and aluminum duties to 50%—but offered no relief for farmers caught in the fray. Beijing, meanwhile, exempted goods shipped before March 10 and arriving by April 12 from the new levies, a small reprieve that does little to ease the long-term uncertainty. As both sides dig in, the question looms: will Trump’s gamble force a deal, or simply deepen the economic trenches?
