BEIJING -- China said Monday that it will reduce tariffs Jan. 1 on more than 850 products from around the world including frozen pork, asthma medications and some high-tech components to spur economic development.
The action, less than two weeks after Beijing and the Trump administration reached a partial deal to end their trade war, also helps China buttress its assertions that it has continued to open up its market despite the long-running conflict with the United States.
The step adds to a series of tariff cuts over the past two years that Beijing says are aimed at improving supplies of consumer goods and encouraging competition. Chinese officials say they should not be seen as concessions to U.S. pressure.
The stopgap trade pact reached this month forestalled one last round of U.S. tariffs that would have extended levies to cover nearly every shoe, laptop and toy that the United States imports from China.
The latest step is intended to "promote the coordinated development of trade and environment," the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xinhua and other state media said the import tariffs would be reduced to levels lower than most-favored-nation rates.
As the country heads into a crucial holiday period, the government is escalating its fight against one of its most vexing domestic challenges by slashing tariffs on pork to stoke imports, ease prices and potentially forestall grumbles from working-class consumers.
The tariff drop comes days after the Commerce Ministry said it would release an additional 40,000 tons of the meat from the nation's strategic pork reserves to keep prices steady.
The Finance Ministry said the new tariff cuts would mainly apply to products in short supply and to foreign products for daily use.
They ranged from turbine valves and other industrial components to orange juice and other commodities. Many tariffs of 5% to 10% were eliminated while higher duties of up to 65% were cut by half or more.
The duty on frozen pork was cut from 12% to 8%. That would help food companies that have increased pork imports to replenish supplies as China contends with an epidemic of African swine fever that has devastated its pig herds.
Levies will also be lowered on grocery items such as avocados, orange juice and seafood, as Chinese households become choosier about the food they eat. The list also includes pharmaceutical ingredients, which China requires as its population ages and demand for new drugs grows.
PORK SHORTAGE
China in November recorded its biggest consumer inflation jump since 2012 after pork prices more than doubled from a year earlier due to a shortage of the meat, a staple food for many Chinese households.
That, in turn, has led to sticker shock spreading beyond the pork aisle in Chinese markets: Consumers are paying 11% to 25% more for other sources of protein, such as beef, chicken and eggs, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics, at a time when the economy is slowing.
Top officials say they want to keep prices in check before the Lunar New Year holiday week in late January, when many Chinese families gather to fold pork dumplings, dive into bowls of braised pork belly and sip soups with pork meatballs.
Wen Tiejun, an expert in macroeconomics and sustainability at Renmin University in Beijing, said Chinese experts are trying to figure out why prices have been skyrocketing as much as they have.
"Pork prices are rising too fast," Wen said. "I'm afraid it's not even a simple relationship of supply and demand, insufficient production or the epidemic."
The pork dilemma has spiraled to the point that domestic prices may be distorted by pork speculators, Wen said. He added that Chinese consumers, who eat half the world's pork, may substitute pork for other meat if prices stay high by the Lunar New Year.
Since summer, Chinese leaders have summoned all hands to tame pork prices. Economic planning authorities promised land permits, loans and subsidies to pig farmers to stoke production. The Transport Ministry doled out free toll passes for trucks carrying pigs.
Even at the height of trade tensions with the United States, the Commerce Ministry exempted American pork from import tariffs. As part of the deal announced this month, Chinese officials have promised "significant transactions" with U.S. hog farmers.
At a moment when the ruling Communist Party says it has more or less delivered a "moderately well-off" life to its citizens, rising pork prices could "undermine the image of the party and the government," the Financial Times reported Vice Premier Hu Chunhua as saying to top party officials during a September meeting.
The ups and downs of pork prices are often headline news and conversation starters across China. On social media outlets such as Weibo and the Chinese version of TikTok, users ironically film themselves showing off thick cuts of bacon like prized jewelry.
The country was scandalized this month by state media reports alleging the existence of "pig speculation syndicates" that use flying drones to drop food tainted with African swine fever into hog farms. The gangs then strike deals with panicked farmers to buy pigs at a discount to sell elsewhere in the country, according to China Comment, an outlet affiliated with Xinhua.
Agriculture Ministry officials last week promised a crackdown on the syndicates and established tip hot lines, while at least one leading pig producer said it was using signal-jamming equipment to secure its farms in Manchuria from unwelcomed flying objects.
Also Monday, the government promised to open its oil, telecom and power markets wider to private competitors as the Communist Party tries to shore up growth in the slowing, state-dominated economy.
The Cabinet said it would give private companies equal treatment with state-owned enterprises in more industries. The announcement gave no details of ownership limits or other possible restrictions on private companies or whether foreign investors would be allowed. It said a timetable was being developed.
The statement promised to "introduce market competition" in key industries, including power, telecoms, railways, oil and natural gas. It said private enterprises would be allowed for the first time to carry out basic telecoms services and invest in power generation and distribution.
Beijing has ended restrictions on full foreign ownership in electric-car manufacturing and says that will extend to the whole auto industry by 2021. Regulators also have promised to allow full foreign ownership in banking, insurance and other finance businesses.
Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press, by Raymond Zhong of The New York Times and by Gerry Shih of The Washington Post.
A Section on 12/24/2019