China Quietly Exempting About a Quarter of US Imports From Tariffs

China has quietly started to exempt some US goods from tariffs that likely cover around US$40 billion (S$51.9 billion) worth of imports, in what looks like an effort to soften the blow of the trade war on its own economy.

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BEIJING -

A list of exempted US products covering 131 items such as pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals has been circulating among traders and businesses over the past week. Some of these products were previously reported by Bloomberg.

It is unclear where the list came from and it has not been officially confirmed, but at least half a dozen companies in China have been able to bring in goods from the list without paying tariffs, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.

The 131 items are worth about US$40 billion, or around 24 per cent of Chinese imports from the US in 2024, Bloomberg calculations based on China Customs data show.

The move echoes steps taken by the Trump administration to exempt smartphones and other electronics from its own "reciprocal" tariffs, including the 145 per cent tariffs on China. Those US exemptions apply to about US$102 billion, or roughly 22 per cent, of US imports from China in 2024, according to estimates by Mr Gerard Di Pippo, associate director of Rand China Research Centre.