China has removed the 125% tariff on ethane imports from the United States, which was imposed earlier this month, among a group of products that have been granted exemptions.
The move is said to ease pressure on Chinese firms that import US ethane for petrochemical production and provide an outlet for the natural gas liquid, a byproduct of US shale gas production.
According to Reuters, two sources said the tariff on ethane had been waived in recent days. One of them said the waiver has not been publicly announced. They declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
At the time of filing this report, China’s Ministry of Commerce and China Customs had not yet commented on the development.
DAILY POST reports that Chinese officials last week granted exemptions for pharmaceuticals, microchips, and aircraft engines and were asking firms to identify critical goods they need levy-free.
Recall that , including ethane, to 125% earlier this month, retaliating against US President Donald Trump’s decision to single out the world’s No. 2 economy for higher duties.
DAILY POST reports that China buys nearly half of US ethane exports, which hit a record of 492,000 barrels per day in 2024, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Chinese companies that rely on U.S. ethane include Satellite Chemical, SP Chemicals, Sinopec, Sanjiang Fine Chemical, and Wanhua Chemical Group, while key US exporters include Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer.
Ethane joins a growing list of products that China has granted tariff exemptions for following the ongoing trade war with Washington.
News of the ethane tariff’s removal comes after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted that Trump’s tariffs were putting major pressure on Beijing.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday morning, Bessent said the tariffs stand to cost China millions of jobs if it doesn’t change course.
“I think that over time we will see that the Chinese tariffs are unsustainable for China. I’ve seen some very large numbers over the past few days that show if these numbers stay on, China could lose 10 million jobs very quickly. And even if there is a drop in the tariffs, they could lose 5 million jobs.
“So remember that we are the deficit country. They sell almost five times more goods to us than we sell to them. So the onus will be on them to take off these tariffs. They’re unsustainable for them,”; Bessent said.
US President Donald Trump announced widespread tariffs against a host of countries on April 2, after routinely condemning other countries’ trade practices and accusing them of engaging in unfair trade practices against the U.S.
The administration later walked back its initial proposal, and on April 9, it announced it would immediately hike tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, but scale back reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%.
