As of December 1, the Chinese government will reduce the tariff for 200 imported products, including frozen Atlantic salmon, from 17.3 percent to 7.7 percent.
The measure is meant to help consumers access quality goods that are not mass-produced within the country, reports La Tercera.
This round of cuts focuses on products with low domestic supply, to provide more choice for Chinese consumers, said the Ministry quoted by the South China Morning Post.
The measure follows President Xi Jinping’s call at the Communist Party Congress in October to meet citizens’ demands for better standards of living and higher product quality and redirect the country towards a growth model based on domestic demand. It s also meant as a signal to the world, that China is committed to promoting global trade.
The measures can influence the competition between exporters of frozen salmon that enter the Chinese market without paying tariffs thanks to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in 2005, like Chile, and countries, which do not have a FTA.
Alejandro Buvinic, director of ProChile, stressed that Chilean shipments are growing strongly in fresh salmon, so the lower rate for frozen product “should not affect us.”
Chinese consumers are increasingly preferring fresh salmon, and that is where Chilean companies must concentrate their promotion efforts, he added.
