消息人士稱，中國免除美國乙烷進口關稅

 Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

China waives tariffs on US ethane imports, sources say

Reuters - Siyi Liu, Florence Tan

Tue, April 29, 2025 at 6:54 a.m. PDT·2 min read

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -China has waived the 125% tariff on ethane imports from the United States imposed earlier this month, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, among a group of products that have been granted exemptions.

The move will ease pressure on Chinese firms that import U.S. ethane for petrochemical production as well as provide an outlet for the natural gas liquid, a byproduct of U.S. shale gas production.

The 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.

China's Ministry of Commerce and China customs could not be immediately reached after office hours.

Reuters reported last week that some pharmaceutical, aerospace and semiconductor products had also been granted tariff exemptions as Beijing tries to blunt the economic impact of its trade war with the United States.

China increased its levies on imports of U.S. goods, including ethane, to 125% earlier this month, hitting back at U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to single out the world's No. 2 economy for higher duties.

China buys nearly half of U.S. ethane exports, which hit a record of 492,000 barrels per day in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The EIA expects U.S. ethane exports to increase to 530,000 bpd in 2025 and to 630,000 bpd in 2026.

Ethane importers in China include Satellite Chemical, SP Chemicals, Sinopec, Sanjiang Fine Chemical and Wanhua Chemical Group while the key U.S. exporters are Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer.

Translation

消息人士稱，中國免除美國乙烷進口關稅

新加坡（路透社）—兩位知情人士週二表示，中國已免除本月初對美國進口乙烷徵收的 125% 關稅，乙烷是獲得豁免的產品之一。

此舉將緩解中國石化生產企業進口美國乙烷的壓力，並為美國天然氣液體提供出口, 乙烷是生產頁岩氣的副產品。

消息人士稱，近日乙烷關稅已被取消。其中一人表示，豁免條款尚未公開宣布。由於事態敏感，他們拒絕透露姓名。

由於辦公時間已過，記者未能立即聯繫到中國商務部和中國海關。

根據路透社上週報道，北京方面試圖減輕與美國貿易戰的經濟影響，一些醫藥、航空太空, 和半導體產品也獲得了關稅豁免。

本月初，中國將包括乙烷在內的美國商品進口關稅提高至 125%，以回擊美國總統特朗普單挑中國這個全球第二大經濟體去徵收更高關稅的決定。

美國能源資訊署 (EIA) 的數據顯示，中國購買了美國近一半的乙烷出口，到 2024 年，美國乙烷出口量達到創紀錄的 49.2 萬桶/日。 EIA 預計，2025年美國乙烷出口量將增加至53萬桶/日，2026年將增加至63萬桶/日。

中國的乙烷進口商包括衛星化學、新浦化工、中石化、三江精細化工 和 萬華化學集團，而美國主要的出口商是 Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer。

So, China has waived the 125% tariff on ethane imports from the United States imposed earlier this month, among a group of products that are granted exemptions. China buys nearly half of U.S. ethane exports. Apparently, ethane China needs to import ethane in order to ensure factories in China can continue operating.

Note:

1. Ethane is primarily used to produce ethylene, a key building block for many everyday products. Ethylene is polymerized into polyethylene, the world’s most common plastic, found in grocery bags, milk jugs, packaging films, and water pipes. It also leads to the production of ethylene oxide, which is used to make antifreeze, detergents, surfactants, and polyester fibers. Additionally, ethane-derived ethylene contributes to the manufacture of vinyl chloride (for PVC), polystyrene, and solvents. Ethane can also serve as a refrigerant (R-170) and is occasionally used as a fuel in power generation. (ChatGPT)