Tariffs on a handful of agricultural products imported into China from the U.S. have taken effect, in retaliation for a series of levies against China imposed by the Trump administration.

According to The New York Times, China is enacting 15% tariffs against imported U.S. chicken, wheat and corn, and 10% tariffs on soybeans, pork, beef and fruit. Moving forward, China is also blocking 15 U.S. companies from purchasing Chinese products without special permission, while barring 10 other U.S. companies from doing business in the country altogether. Any products shipped before March 10 and imported into China by April 12 will not be subject to the new levies. 

China represents the largest export market for U.S. agricultural products in the world. In 2022, soybeans alone accounted for nearly half of U.S. agriculture exports to China. U.S. livestock and poultry exports to China have dramatically increased in recent years as well, rising from $17 billion in 2012 to $155 million in 2022. 

This comes after President Donald Trump rolled out 10% levies on all products imported into the U.S. from China in February, before raising rates to 20% in early March. Around that same time, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry vowed to fight back against the U.S. in the burgeoning trade war "to the end," although China's commerce minister Wang Wentao reportedly invited his U.S. counterpart and the U.S. trade representative to meet in person the month prior. In February, Trump also told reporters that some sort of trade agreement with China was "possible."