The list published by China covers a number of pulp and paper products. Most of the tariff products of the daily tracking statistics of PaperLink will be subject to a 5% tariff from December 15.

Wood pulp

The main wood pulp products will be subject to a 5% tariff from December 15 on the basis of the previous 5% tax rate. Among the pulp products listed in the list, bleached softwood pulp is one of the more imported products. According to customs data, China imported more than 1.46 million tons of bleached softwood pulp from the United States in 2018 (including fluff pulp, the same below), accounting for 18.39% of the total annual import of bleached softwood pulp.

Since the United States has always been China's main source of imported bleached softwood pulp, coupled with the recent depreciation of the RMB against the US dollar and the reduction of production by overseas pulp mills, this round of tariffs will put some pressure on the production costs of Chinese paper mills.

On August 26, the price of pulp futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose sharply. The closing price of the 2001 main contract was RMB 4,786/ton, and the settlement reference price was RMB 4,714/ton, which was RMB 74/ton higher than the previous settlement price.

Waste paper and recycled pulp

OCC, old newspapers and old magazine paper in waste paper products, as well as mixed waste paper (China has stopped importing this type of waste paper since 2018) will be subject to a 5% tariff from December 15th, and high-grade waste paper Did not appear in this list. Previously, in August last year, all categories of US waste products were subject to a 25% tariff.

Although the US waste was once again subject to tariffs, most Chinese paper mills will complete this year's waste purchases in October-November, taking into account the shipping schedule, ensuring that waste paper arrives in Hong Kong in time in December, so December 15 The increase in tariffs from the day will not have a significant impact on US scrap purchases in the next few months of this year.

This round of tariff increase may put pressure on the Chinese paper mill's US waste purchase cost next year. However, under the expectation that China's imported waste paper will continue to decrease and gradually return to zero, the impact of the increase in US waste tariffs on Chinese packaging paper enterprises will be limited.

Recycled pulp did not appear in this list. However, in May this year, when China announced that it would increase tariffs on 60 billion imported products from the United States, the tax rate for recycled pulp would be 20%. In recent years, with China gradually reducing the amount of waste paper imports, imported recycled pulp has become the main way for Chinese packaging paper companies to cope with fiber shortages. In the first half of this year, the United States became the second largest source of recycled pulp in China. From January to June, China imported 46,700 tons of recycled pulp from the United States, compared with 1,628 tons last year.

In addition, Nine Dragons Paper and Shanying Paper have announced that they will invest in the construction of reclaimed pulp lines in the United States. Shanying Paper said in August that it plans to build a new 700,000 tons/year reclaimed pulp line at its US plant. According to the plan, Nine Dragon will also build a reclaimed pulp line at its Rumford and Biron plants, with a total annual production capacity of about 1 million tons. .

Paper and cardboard

In terms of cultural paper, the main double-adhesive paper products were not subject to tariffs.

The tariff on the coated paper with two tariffs will increase. The tariff for the 48101300 tariff product will increase by 5% from December 15th. The number of coated paper imported from the US under this tariff is the largest, but only 30,000 tons last year. Another tariff product will be subject to a 10% tariff from September 1, and the product imported from the US under the tariff is less than 2,000 tons last year.

Although most of the whiteboard products imported from the United States will be subject to a 5% or 10% tariff, the amount of white cardboard imported from the United States is relatively limited. Last year's imports were about 94,000 tons, and the most imported products. The tax rate for this increase is 5%.

Among the paper and paperboard products imported from the United States, boxboard corrugated paper is the largest imported paper. Last year, the import volume was nearly 550,000 tons, and most products will be subject to a 5% or 10% tariff from December 15.

It is worth noting that the import of cardboard paper products under the tariff code 48041100 alone reached 541,000 tons last year, accounting for 40% of the total imports of Chinese containerboard paper in 2018. The tariff product will be subject to a 5% tariff, and the previous round of the tax rate is also 5%.

Since the beginning of this year, despite the sluggish performance of the domestic cardboard paper market, it has affected the demand for imported boxboards to a certain extent. However, China’s tariffs on US boxboard products will result in higher import tariffs on American containerboard paper. The same kind of products from the source, so the US cardboard paper will be more passive in the future in the Chinese market.

U.S. announced a 5% increase in tariffs on Chinese goods for US$550 billion

After China announced the imposition of tariffs on 75 billion imported goods from the United States, the US Trade Representative Office immediately responded by adding another 5% tariff on Chinese imports worth about $550 billion.

According to the statement of the Office of the US Trade Representative, the US will increase the tariff of 25% of Chinese imports worth about US$250 billion to 30% from October 1. According to the previously scheduled date, the 10% tariff on Chinese imports worth about $300 billion has been raised to 15%.