By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-11 04:16:51 | Updated at 2026-08-11 04:40:18
27 minutes ago
BEIJING – China ordered steep anti-dumping deposits on pecan imports from the US and Mexico, adding another source of trade friction weeks before an expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Commerce Ministry said on Aug 10 pecans from both countries were being sold in China at unfairly low prices, citing the provisional result of an investigation.
Starting Aug 11, importers of US pecans are required to pay a deposit rate of 54.3 per cent, while those buying from Mexico face rates ranging from 17.8 per cent to 51.6 per cent.
The decision comes as Washington and Beijing seek to keep preparations on track for Xi’s planned visit to the US in September, even as a renewed exchange of trade and technology restrictions strains their fragile truce.
China last week announced a barrage of countermeasures including sanctions on US entities and tighter controls on drone-related exports.
While the increase is drastic, the new charges are unlikely to have a major impact on bilateral trade given China’s imports of US pecans had already plummeted after 2024.
Shipments of the nuts amounted to just US$6.9 million (S$8.83 million) in the first four months of 2026, compared with US$77.2 million two years ago.
Instead, it has boosted its purchases from South Africa in recent years, Chinese customs data show.
China has been buying fewer pecans from Mexico, too, importing just US$2.6 million so far in 2026, compared with US$53.2 million in the same period of 2024, according to Chinese customs data.
The Mexican government on Aug 10 expressed its concern in a statement about the preliminary ruling and reiterated its commitment to defending the interests of the country’s producers and exporters.
The products from some Mexican companies face a lower rate due to their participation in the probe, but China put a blanket 54.3 per cent rate on all American supplies because no US firms did, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a separate statement.
“China has consistently exercised prudence and restraint in its use of trade-remedy measures,” the ministry added, pledging to protect the rights of interested parties before issuing a final ruling.
The investigation was launched last September under China’s Anti-Dumping Regulations.
American pecans were already hit by 10 per cent tariffs in March 2025, as China retaliated against Trump’s levies.
The probe came weeks after Mexico announced plans to increase tariffs on China and other Asian nations as part of its budget proposal.
The tariff hikes, which aim to shelter domestic manufacturers from subsidised Chinese competition and satisfy a longstanding demand of Trump, were later approved by Mexican lawmakers in December.
Pecans were previously caught in the trade war during the first Trump administration, when China hit back against American pecans with 47 per cent tariffs that left farmers in Georgia and Arizona without a key export market. BLOOMBERG
