The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Tuesday the removal of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on U.S. broiler chicken products, which Gao Guan, vice secretary-general of the China Meat Association, said will help relieve tensions over trade between the two countries.
In a statement posted on its website, MOFCOM said the original applicant in the anti-dumping case called for the removal of tariffs in December 2017. After an investigation, related government departments deemed it unnecessary to maintain the penalties.
The ministry originally imposed the tariffs in 2010 and later decided to extend them for another five years to 2021.
Friction over broiler chickens - chickens that reach slaughter weight by about 13 weeks of age - is a major reason for the tense trade relations between China and the U.S., as poultry is one of the industries in which the U.S. is strong, according to Gao.
"China imposed penalties on U.S. broiler chicken for the sake of the development of the domestic industry. But it turned out that avian influenza led to losses for domestic broiler chicken companies, rather than imports from the U.S. In this sense, the removal of the tariffs is important so that U.S. and Chinese chicken companies can jointly deal with the avian influenza challenge," he said.
The U.S. exported hundreds of millions of dollars of poultry and eggs to China before the restrictions were put in place, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
