China gives clearance to import rice from US

The green light from Chinese customs, indicated in a statement posted on the customs authority’s website on Friday, comes in the run-up to talks between the countries in January after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a moratorium on higher tariffs that would affect trade worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

American rice was cleared for import from Thursday, Chinese customs officials announced.

“According to the relevant Chinese laws and the conditions set out in the agreed phytosanitary protocol, the US is permitted to export rice to China,” the agency said.

China agreed to open its rice market to US producers after a deal was struck in 2017. It did not take effect straight away as inspection procedures had to be put in place.

China has since then bought more than 1.5 million tonnes of soybeans and resumed buying liquefied gas.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much rice China, which sources rice imports from within Asia, might seek to buy from the United States. But the move, which comes after years of talks on the matter, follows pledges from China’s commerce ministry of further U.S. trade openings earlier this week.

As of December 27, imports of brown rice, polished rice and crushed rice from the United States are now permitted, as long as cargoes meet China’s inspection standards and are registered with the United States Department of Agriculture.

Nonetheless, in July, China formally imposed additional tariffs of 25 percent on U.S. rice, even though imports were not permitted at the time.

Negotiations on opening China’s rice market to the US started more than a decade ago. China’s demands for rice surged after it joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, but a lack of plant health protocols stalled imports, trade group USA Rice said.

China imported about 5 million tons of rice in 2016, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, the US exports 3 million to 4 million tons of rice per year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

US rice products will face competition in China, where Vietnam and Thailand are major rice exporters.