BEIJING — China will exempt some American soybeans, pork and other agricultural products from additional tariffs, state media reported on Friday, in the latest move by Beijing to ease trade tensions with the United States.
China Central Television, the nation’s official broadcaster, and other official outlets reported the move without disclosing details about the tariff exemptions. But in a brief report issued late Friday afternoon, CCTV cited President Trump’s move on Thursday to delay Washington’s new tariffs by two weeks so that they would take effect after trade talks scheduled for early October.
The announcement was another sign that the world’s two largest economies are trying to calm a trade war that has rocked global markets and shaken confidence, casting a pall over the prospects for global growth.
The promise to hold off additional tariffs on American pork and soybeans comes as China’s leadership is facing challenges on several fronts, including an economic slowdown and civil unrest in Hong Kong.
Depending on the amount of agricultural products exempted, China’s move could be warmly welcomed by Mr. Trump. Some farmers in the United States have been hit hard by tariffs imposed by Beijing on American goods, a retaliation against the White House’s mounting tariffs on Chinese goods. The 2020 presidential election is approaching, and the farming vote was critical in some of the states that supported Mr. Trump in 2016.
The move could also help China with its own problems. Food inflation has been rising as Chinese authorities battle an epidemic of swine fever, which has forced China to cull more than a million pigs. Pork is a staple of the Chinese diet.
But Friday’s state media reports, brief in length and substance, left unclear whether China was willing to substantially roll back tariffs it had previously placed on American goods. It first began to stop imports of American agricultural products a year ago as trade tensions escalated.
The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, the two sources of Friday’s announcement, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday, which was a holiday in China.
The ongoing trade war, with a rising number of goods being taxed, has not only pushed prices higher for businesses and consumers in China and the United States, but risks a more permanent chill in relations between the two countries.
The announcement followed indications that China was moving toward resuming purchases of American agricultural products. On Thursday an American soybean industry association said that China had purchased between 600,000 to 1 million metric tons of soybeans for shipment in October.
On Wednesday, in its first move toward easing tensions, China published a short list of products to be spared from retaliatory tariffs on American-made goods, including cancer drugs, lubricants and pesticides. But those items are less central to the trade fight. Chinese purchases of American agricultural products make up a significant chunk of its imports from the United States.
Trade tensions between China and the United States had worsened in recent months, following the collapse of talks in May. But senior officials of both governments are set to meet in Washington early next month amid rising economic worries in both countries
At a news conference on Thursday, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce indicated that the government was considering making concessions in order to pave the way for more trade talks.
Chinese companies were beginning to make inquiries about purchases of American soybeans and pork, said the spokesman, Gao Feng.
“We hope the two sides would move in the same direction, take practical actions and provide a sound environment for the trade talks, and it would be good for the two countries, and for the world,” Mr. Gao said.
