Cargo ship carrying U.S. soybeans arrives at China's port after weeks amid trade row
The Peak Pegasus, a vessel carrying tons of soybeans from the U.S. that reportedly rushed to reach a Chinese port on July 6 hoping to clear customs before China slapped retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, has officially entered Beiliang port in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province to offload its cargo, a port employee told the Global Times on Sunday.
It is unclear whether the cargo will be subject to the 25 percent tariffs China imposed on U.S. imports on July 6. Earlier media reports suggested that State-owned Sinograin was the buyer and that it would pay various taxes based on relevant laws, including the tariff fees.
The staff member also declined to tell the Global Times how long it would take to offload the soybeans following customs clearance.
The Global Times saw on industry website marinetraffic.com that the carrier had moored at Beiliang port on Sunday morning. The website also showed that the ship had sailed from 19:24 to 23:21 on Saturday, the first of updates in sailing record on the website since Peak Pegasus approached the port in Dalian on July 6.
The cargo's owner, Amsterdam-based agricultural commodity trading house Louis Dreyfus, told the Global Times on Friday that the ship had been waiting to offload its cargo due to the port's limited warehouse capacity, with its customer in China now having "ownership of the cargo."
The ship, owned by JPMorgan Asset Management, is a 229-meter bulk carrier loaded with about 70,000 tons of U.S. soybeans. It departed from Seattle on June 8.
JPMorgan Asset Management declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the Global Times.
On July 6, China imposed 25 percent duties on $34 billion worth of U.S. imports, including soybeans. The move was a response to a similar move by the U.S. on Chinese imports.
