China lifts 5-year ban on U.S. poultry products

WASHINGTON — China is lifting a five-year ban on U.S. poultry, a goodwill gesture at a time when the world’s two biggest economies are trying to finalize a tentative trade deal.

China had blocked U.S. poultry imports a month after an outbreak of avian influenza in December 2014, closing off a market that bought more than $500 million worth of American chicken, turkey and other poultry products in 2013.

“The United States welcomes China’s decision to finally lift its unwarranted ban on U.S. poultry and poultry products. This is great news for both America’s farmers and China’s consumers,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who predicted that U.S. poultry exports to China could surpass $1 billion a year.

The decision out of Beijing is effective immediately and the announcement sent shares of major U.S. chicken processers Sanderson Farms, Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride to new highs for the year Thursday.

The Chinese market looks especially promising for U.S. poultry producers because an outbreak of African swine fever has devastated a competing protein in China: pork.

The U.S. and China are locked in a trade war over American allegations that the Chinese are deploying predatory tactics — including stealing trade secrets — in an aggressive drive to challenge U.S. technological dominance. The two countries have slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of each other’s goods in the biggest trade conflict since the 1930s.

Last month, U.S. and Chinese negotiators announced a modest breakthrough.

China agreed to buy more U.S. farm products, and President Donald Trump dropped plans to hike tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.