China to halve additional tariffs on some US imports

China is set to halve additional tariffs on US imports that includes pork, beef, soybeans and whiskey, from February 14, the country's tariff commission said on Thursday.

The tariffs on these products, which also include some from the automotive industry, poultry, and chemicals, would remain at 5 and 2.5 per cent from 10 and 5 per cent levied earlier since September 1, 2019, Efe news quoted the State Council Tariff Commission as saying.

The measure, which would affect $75 billion worth of goods from the US, will come into effect at 1 p.m. on February 14.

Beijing said that the measure was a response to Washington's decision to reduce the tariff from 15 to 7.5 per cent on $120 billion worth of Chinese goods.

According to a statement by China's Ministry of Finance, Beijing has decided to ease trade and economic tensions and increase cooperation.

The statement said that more such measures would depend on the development of the relations between the two countries.

The announcement comes weeks after the US and China signed the first phase of a bilateral agreement in Washington to end a long-running bitter trade dispute between them.

In the agreement signed in Washington last month, China pledged to boost its imports of US goods and services by $200 billion over the next two years in return of the US revoking some tariffs imposed on Chinese goods.

The imports to China include $32 billion in additional agricultural purchases, $52 billion in energy products and $78 billion in additional manufactured goods.

The trade war between the US and China has been ongoing since March 2018 that has led to escalated tensions between the two economies with diverse ramifications apart from the economic ones.

The dispute goes beyond bilateral relations and has had global consequences.

The International Monetary Fund, in its latest forecasts last October, downgraded global growth projections for the year to three percent, 0.2 per cent less than that in July.

Credit rating agency Moody's has warned of a "negative" outlook of Asia Pacific's 2020 sovereign credit quality due to stalled growth caused by the trade war despite bilateral progress being made.