More tarrifs

China’s proposal to add a new round of tariffs on $60 billion (R800 billion) worth of goods it imports from the US – retaliation for expanding planned tariffs by the Trump administration – is only hitting one commodities sector hard: liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments.

A roundup of the tariff effects on commodities is:

China is proposing a 25% tariff on imports of US liquefied natural gas, a major blow to an emerging American business.

It’s the first time the fuel has been ensnared by the expanding trade war and billions of US dollars may hang in the balance.

China proposed a 25% tariff on imports of copper ore and concentrate from the US, which shipped about 70 000 tons to the country last year.

China is also slapping 25% tariffs on the following items: niobium, tantalum, vanadium ores and concentrate, other precious metal ores and concentrate nickel and zinc ore and concentrate lithium carbonate.

Most major US crops were already hit by previously announced Chinese duties, so the fresh duties announced on Friday on about $60 billion worth of American goods is leaving the farm largely unscathed.

Everything from oak wood to veneered panels of laminated wood has been ensnared in China’s escalation of the trade battle with the US.

China plans to impose a 25% tariff on imports of US-manufactured solar cells.

Oil was left unscathed, with crude and refined products absent from the list. – Bloomberg