President Donald Trump said he has asked China to immediately remove all tariffs on U.S. agriculture, including beef and pork, citing progress in trade talks between the two nations.

In making the demand, Trump noted in a tweet Friday that he refrained from increasing U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent on March 1, as he said he would in the absence of progress toward an agreement. Faxes and phone calls to China’s ministries of commerce and foreign affairs, and the office in charge of trade talks, went unanswered Saturday outside office hours.

China imposed retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural products last year, though Trump did not indicate that his demand was limited to those penalties. Soybeans, as well as beef, pork and chicken products were on the first batch of retaliatory tariffs on $34 billion worth of imports imposed in July, and were subject to an extra 25 percent duty.

It’s unclear what effect Trump’s demand could have on ongoing talks, which the president signaled earlier this week were moving toward an agreement. American officials are preparing a final trade deal that Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping could sign within weeks, people familiar with the matter have said, even as a debate continues in Washington over whether to push the Beijing government for more concessions.

If China were to remove the tariffs, it would likely be a huge boon to U.S. crop markets that have been caught in the trade war crossfire. Soybean, pork and ethanol shipments have all languished amid the duties. China is a key destination for most of the world’s biggest agriculture markets.

SOURCE: Bloomberg