A US cargo ship is racing to China to beat tariff clock
A ship carrying US soybeans is steaming toward northern China in a race to beat a 25 per cent tariff. Peak Pegasus is expected to arrive in Dalian on Friday, the same day that China is scheduled to impose tariffs on imports from the US, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg and a person familiar with the matter.
If it arrives as scheduled, it should be able to clear customs before the tariffs are imposed, according to the source. Ship-tracking data currently shows it arriving at about 5 pm local time (2.30 pm IST).
China plans to impose tariffs on $34 billion of American imports, including soybeans, from July 6 in retaliation against a raft of duties set to be imposed by the US on the same day. Neither country specified a time when they announced the tariffs and China has said it won’t impose the taxes before the US Beijing is 12 hours ahead of Washington.
Soybeans have been a key battleground in escalating trade tensions between the two countries as China is the world’s biggest importer and America’s largest customer in trade worth $14 billion last year. The Asian country is expected to cancel or re-sell US soybeans due to the additional duties and purchased 19 cargoes from Brazil last week. China typically imports from Brazil at this time of year before switching to the U.S., spurring concerns about a deficit in the fourth quarter.
Soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade tumbled 14 per cent last month due to the escalating trade tensions. The oilseed, the most exposed of all assets to a trade war, is now a buy, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.