By Joe Cash, Mei Mei Chu and Xiuhao Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) -China has American agricultural exports in its cross hairs as it prepares countermeasures against fresh U.S. import tariffs, China's state-backed Global Times reported, raising the stakes in an escalating trade war between the world's top two economies.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week threatened China with the extra 10% duty set to take effect on Tuesday, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff, and accused Beijing of not doing enough to halt the flow of fentanyl into America, which China said was tantamount to "blackmail."
"China is studying and formulating relevant countermeasures in response to the U.S. threat of imposing an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products under the pretext of fentanyl," Global Times reported on Monday, citing an anonymous source.
"The countermeasures will likely include both tariffs and a series of non-tariff measures, and U.S. agricultural and food products will most likely be listed," the report added.
China's commerce ministry and the U.S. embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China is the biggest market for U.S. agricultural products, and the sector has long been vulnerable to being used as a punching bag in times of trade tensions.
"Despite a decline in imports since 2018, any tariffs on key U.S. agricultural products like soybeans, meat and grains could have a significant impact on U.S.-China trade as well as U.S. exporters and farmers," said Genevieve Donnellon-May, a researcher at the Oxford Global Society.
"The U.S. agricultural sector has had time to prepare for a second Trump administration and trade war 2.0, with lessons learned from the first Trump administration," she added.
"So, in theory, it should be in a better place to find alternative markets. However, the reality may prove far more complex."
China's most active soymeal and rapeseed meal futures, already underpinned by a supply shortage, each surged 2.5% after the Global Times report. The soymeal contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange hit its highest since Sept 30, 2024.
The world's top agricultural importer and second-largest economy brought in $29.25 billion worth of U.S agriculture products in 2024, a 14% drop from a year earlier, extending a 20% decline seen in 2023.
Global Times, which is owned by the newspaper of the governing Communist Party, People's Daily, was first to report the steps China planned to take in response to the European Union slapping tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles last year.