China announced another round of tariff cuts, lowering import taxes on more than 700 goods from Jan. 1 as part of its efforts to open up the economy and lower costs for domestic consumers.

There will also be cuts to some export tariffs, and temporary import tariff rates will be as low as zero for some goods, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday. The ‘temporary’ rates can be changed ad hoc and can be lower than the current Most-Favored Nations standard though they are also available to all World Trade Organization members.

Key Insights

This is the third round of tariff cuts announced this year, as China looks to cut costs for consumers and implement President Xi Jinping’s promises to open up further. U.S. exports will get the benefit of the reductions as well, although most products will still be subject to the retaliatory tariffs until there is a breakthrough in the ongoing talks.

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