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Ministry: China halts purchase of American agricultural products - UPDATED

05 August 2019 21:44 (UTC +04:00)

Chinese companies have stopped buying agricultural products made in the US, and Beijing is considering imposing tariffs on all US farm goods purchased after August 3, China's ministry of commerce announced late Monday, APA reports citing Reuters.

The ministry's statement comes on the heels of reports by Chinese media, including Xinhua, about possible new tariffs on US agricultural goods.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported, citing informed sources, that Beijing was asking state-owned enterprises to suspend imports of US agricultural products amid spiraling trade tensions with the US, with state-run agricultural giants now said to be biding their time in anticipation of further trade talks.

Last Thursday, a day after the two economic giants wrapped up trade talks in Shanghai, President Donald Trump announced plans to slap a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports starting September 1, accusing Beijing of failing to meet its pledge to buy "large quantities" of agricultural products from the US despite purportedly agreeing to do so the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan in late June.

Earlier Monday, the Chinese yuan fell to its lowest level on record against the US dollar amid concerns of another escalation in the trade war, with President Trump accusingthe country of deliberately engaging in "currency manipulation" and saying the move would "greatly weaken China over time."

US and Chinese officials are expected to continue trade talks in Washington, DC next month.

Last week, US media reported that President Trump's hard line on China has been met with dissent in his own cabinet, with an anonymous source telling the Wall Street Journal that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow and National Security Adviser John Bolton all opposing the new tariffs.

Beijing had earlier warned that it would retaliate to any new tariffs, targeting everyting from clothing to toys to home consumer goods and electronics. Since the trade spat began in mid-2018, Beijing has remained reluctant to escalate the conflict with Washington. However, following President Trump's tariffs announcement on Thursday, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the influential Global Times newspaper, said China "will no longer give priority to controlling" the "scale" of the trade war, focusing instead on a "national strategy under a prolonged trade war."

***21:25

The ministry's statement comes on the heels of reports by Chinese media, including Xinhua, about possible new tariffs on US agricultural goods.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported, citing informed sources, that Beijing was asking state-owned enterprises to suspend imports of US agricultural products amid spiraling trade tensions with the US, with state-run agricultural giants now biding their time in anticipation of further trade talks.