China will slap hefty antidumping deposits on imports of US sorghum from Wednesday, the government said as trade tension escalates between the world’s top two economies. The charge on the grain used in livestock feed and the spirits industry was higher than expected. CHS and other US companies will have to put up a 178.6% deposit on the value of sorghum shipments to the country in what Beijing called a temporary measure, as the government continues to probe imports of the grain. Traders said the deposit was high enough to bring US imports to a halt and inflate prices of alternatives, such as barley. Sorghum is used in livestock feed and the fiery liquor baijiu. "De facto, it stops all the trade," said Mike O’Dea, a US trader for broker INTL FCStone. Beijing has also threatened a tariff on US soya beans. China purchased $12bn worth of US soya beans last year, making it the most valuable US agricultural export to China. The US shipped 4.76-million tonnes of sorghum to China in 2017, w...
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