By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-07 09:53:09 | Updated at 2024-11-07 13:02:59
3 hours ago
China remains an attractive market for the United States, a high-level US agricultural official said, calling the farming sector a “big success story” despite an uncertain future for the bilateral relationship after the re-election of Donald Trump.
“We think we can double our current level of [agricultural] exports to China, particularly if unjustified barriers are removed to our products,” said Jason Hafemeister, an acting deputy undersecretary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in an interview on Thursday during an ongoing trade fair in Shanghai.
Refusing to “speculate” on the policies the next administration may enact, he called on Chinese authorities to reform tariffs, health certification for imports and registration mandates on US agricultural products to ease the flow of goods.
Trump won a second presidential term on Tuesday after campaigning to, among other trade escalations, impose a 60 per cent tariff on all Chinese goods.
China is foreseeing more economic headwinds in the coming Trump term, which could prompt more retaliatory measures to combat potential tariff increases and tech restrictions from Washington.
Harley Seyedin, president of the Guangzhou-based American Chamber of Commerce in South China, said US businesses still expect dividends from the election outcome.
