China-U.S. Dispute Unlikely to Impact Soybean Trade, Cofco Says

By Bloomberg News

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- China’s imports of U.S. soybeans are unlikely to be affected by a trade dispute between the two countries over exports of Chinese tires, Li Ming, general manager of Cofco Ltd.’s agri-trading and logistics department, said.

Concern spread earlier this week that U.S. tariffs imposed on tires from China will spark a retaliatory slowdown in purchases of U.S. crops and farm products.

The U.S. placed tariffs of 35 percent on tires from China last week, acting on a union complaint that imports were pushing workers out of jobs. China announced a probe into the alleged dumping of American auto and chicken products after the U.S. actions. China is the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans and the second-biggest importer of poultry and pork.