MYANMAR

China, the world’s largest importer of cotton, has been eyeing Myanmar-produced cotton with much greater interest in the wake of its trade war with the US, local cotton growers have told The Myanmar Times. China has imported cotton from the US for the past 10 years. Last month, though, US President Donald Trump imposed US$50 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese imports, which includes agriculture. That sparked the ongoing trade war between the two countries, with China retaliating by slapping tariffs on agriculture imports from the US. Now, China is interested in importing Myanmar cotton, said U Aung Myint, secretary of the Cotton Product Merchant and Manufacturers Association. “Despite being able to also import cotton from India as an alternative to the US, China has offered to buy from Myanmar instead because we do not charge import duties on cotton yet,” he said.