Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 7/8/14


China’s Ministry of Commerce has lowered anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on chicken products imported from the United States in the wake of a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on a dispute between the two nations.

The government is dropping the range of anti-dumping of chicken imports by U.S. processors to between 46.6 percent and 73.8 percent, according to online reports and China Daily online. The previous anti-dumping tariff was set at a maximum of 105.4 percent in 2010 to discourage U.S. chicken suppliers from adversely impacting China’s local poultry industry. That level was originally set for five years.

Meanwhile, the anti-subsidy taxes on the imports will be set at a maximum of 4.2 percent, significantly below the previous maximum of 30.3 percent, according to Reuters, which also noted that U.S. exports to China have fallen by 90 percent since 2010. U.S. chicken companies have lost an estimated $1 billion in potential sales over the last four years because of the prohibitive taxes.

The moves come after the WTO found in China’s favor regarding rules for its domestic poultry and trade level differences in late 2013, but the agency also agreed with U.S. arguments that China was inconsistent on its anti-dumping rules, according to the ministry’s website.

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