By Andrew Silver
Shanghai (Reuters) -china has created a list of products manufactured in the United States which would be exempt from its 125% prices and quietly inform politicians, said two familiar people, because Beijing seeks to mitigate the impact of its trade war with Washington.
China has already given tariff exemptions on certain products, including pharmaceuticals, micropuces and plane engines and asked companies to identify the critical goods they need, Reuters said on Friday. However, the existence of a so-called “white list” had not been reported before.
The silent approach allows Beijing, who has repeatedly said that he was willing to fight to the end, unless the United States raises its 145%prices, to maintain its public messaging while taking practical measures to provide concessions.
It was not immediately clear how much and which products were included on the list, which authorities did not share publicly, said the two sources, refusing to be appointed as the information was not public.
According to one of the sources working in a pharmaceutical company, companies are contacted by companies and have been informed of the existence of a list of product classifications that are exempt from prices.
The company was contacted on Monday by the government of Shanghai Pudong about the list, said the source, adding that the company had previously put pressure for price exemptions because it is based on American technologies for some of its products.
“We still have many technologies we need the United States,” said the person.
Another source said that certain companies have been invited to contact the authorities in private to find out if their own imported products are eligible for the exemption.
The list of exempt products also seems to grow: China has given up prices on ethane imports from the United States, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
The main ethane processors had already looked for pricing derogations in Beijing because the United States is the only supplier.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he thought that a trade agreement with China was on the horizon. “But it's going to be a good deal,” he said.
China's trade and customs ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
Exact of the evaluation
Two other sources said that China also walks companies to assess the impact of the tariff war.
During a recent meeting, the authorities in eastern China asked a lobby group of foreign companies to “communicate all the critical situations caused by pricing tensions to assess specific cases,” a person who has direct knowledge of the case.
