The rumor spread in the press in recent days has been confirmed. China will impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key US agri-food products, including chicken, pork, soybeans and beef. This will be accompanied by increased controls on trade with US companies. This was reported by the Chinese Ministry of Finance. Beijing's new protectionist measures should come into force from March 10, following the increase to 20% of US duties on all Chinese products, ordered by President Donald Trump .

Imports of U.S.-grown chicken, wheat, corn and cotton will be subject to an additional 15 percent tariff. Tariffs on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables and dairy products will be increased by 10 percent. In addition, the Chinese government has placed 10 more U.S. companies on its unreliable entity list, which would prevent Chinese from engaging in import or export activities related to their country and from making new investments in the country.

The companies listed are Tcom, Limited Partnership; Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC; Teledyne Brown Engineering; Huntington Ingalls Industries; S3 AeroDefense; Cubic Corporation; TextOre; ACT1 Federal; Exovera and Planate Management Group.
The addition of the 10 companies comes after China last month added two companies, fashion company PVH Group and biotechnology company Illumina, to its unreliable entities list. In addition, China has added 15 U.S. companies to its export control list, including aerospace and defense firms General Dynamics Land Systems and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, among others.

"China has decided to include 15 US entities that endanger China's national security and interests in the export control list, prohibiting them from exporting dual-use items," China's Ministry of Commerce reported.