MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US-China trade dispute escalates to include chicken wings and feet

Not popular in the US they are considered delicacies in China

China is to enforce anti-dumping duties on US chicken imports, accusing American poultry firms of exporting the meat at unfairly low prices. In just the latest in a series of trade disputes between the two countries, China's Commerce Department said the tariffs will start from 13 February.

China launched an investigation into US chicken in September a day after the US put tariffs on Chinese tyres.

President Obama said this week he would get “much tougher” with China on trade.

Tensions between the two nations have been further exacerbated by the US president saying on Tuesday that he intended to go ahead with plans to meet the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, despite China calling for the meeting to be abandoned. Beijing has also been angered by the US's new 6.4 billion US dollars arms deal with Taiwan.

The duties will primarily hit exports of US chicken wings and feet to China, a big business for US poultry companies. Both products are considered delicacies in China - especially chicken feet, which are not popular in the US.

As a result, the price they sell for in China is much higher than in the US.

“Chicken feet and wings are not wanted in the US so they sell them to China, they dump them below cost,” said Wang Xiulin, president of the Chinese Poultry Association.
“For over a decade, the US has sent big volumes of chicken to the Chinese market, hurting producers here.

”Last year, the Chinese poultry industry was really hurting so we asked for this investigation.“

The duties will differ across the various main US chicken firms, with Tyson Foods having to pay 43.1% on top of its current Chinese prices, Pilgrim's Pride an additional 80.5%, and Sanderson Farms an extra 64.5%.

The Commerce Department said its ruling was a preliminary one, but did not give any indication of when it will make its final decision.

The US Trade Department has yet to comment on the case.

President Obama said last Wednesday that he would adopt a tougher line in trade disputes with China. The US is particularly concerned with the Chinese currency, the Yuan, which it accuses Beijing of keeping deliberately undervalued so as to give Chinese exporters an unfair advantage.

The Chinese government has consistently denied this claim, saying earlier this week that ”wrongful accusations and pressure” would not help trade relations between the two countries.

The two nations have also had trade rows over Chinese clothing and food exports, the high level of music and film piracy in China, and the access of US firms to the Chinese market.