Beijing lifts some tariffs on US farm goods but soybeans remain costly

BEIJING (Reuters) -China will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports following last week's meeting of their two leaders, including lifting duties on farm goods, Beijing confirmed on Wednesday, but imports of U.S. soybeans will still face a 13% tariff.

The State Council's tariff commission announced it would remove the duties of up to 15% it imposed on certain U.S. agricultural goods from November 10, while maintaining the 10% levies introduced in response to President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" duties.

Investors on both sides of the Pacific breathed a sigh of relief when Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, easing fears that the world's two largest economies might abandon talks aimed at resolving a tariff war that has disrupted global supply chains.

While Trump and the White House were quick to publish their take on the meeting, the Chinese side did not immediately move to provide a detailed summary of what it had agreed.

"Broadly, it's a great sign that the two sides are making rapid progress in putting the deal into effect," said Even Rogers Pay, a director at Beijing-based Trivium China.

"It shows they're aligned and that the agreement is likely to hold up."

The tariff cut nonetheless leaves Chinese buyers of U.S. soybeans facing tariffs of 13%, a cost traders said makes U.S. shipments still too expensive for commercial buyers compared to Brazilian alternatives.

"We don't expect any demand from China to return to the U.S. market with this change," said one trader at an international trading company. "Brazil is cheaper than the U.S. and even non-Chinese buyers are taking Brazilian cargoes."

Following the Xi-Trump meeting, the White House said China would purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the final two months of 2025 and at least 25 million tons in each of the next three years.

Beijing has yet to confirm those figures, and traders are watching closely for signs of large-scale purchases.

CHEAPER BRAZILIAN BEANS

Chinese importers recently bought 20 cargoes of cheaper Brazilian soybeans as South American prices eased on expectations of a resumption of U.S. sales to the world's largest soybean importer.

Brazilian soybeans for December shipment are quoted at a premium of $2.25 to $2.30 over the January Chicago contract SF26, compared with $2.40 per bushel being offered for U.S. beans to be shipped from the U.S. Gulf Coast, traders have said.

Before Trump and Xi met, COFCO made China's first purchases from this year's U.S. harvest, an act analysts saw as a goodwill gesture.

In 2024, China bought roughly 20% of its soybeans from the U.S., down from 41% in 2016 - the year before Trump's first presidential term, customs data showed.

This year, China has largely shunned U.S. crops from its autumn harvest due to high tariffs, costing American farmers billions of dollars in lost exports.

China's cabinet said it will also suspend for one year the 24% additional tariffs it imposed on U.S. goods in April.

(Reporting by Joe Cash, Ethan Wang and Ella Cao in Beijing, and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Jamie Freed, Lincoln Feast and Christopher Cushing)