(Reuters) – Chinese agricultural stocks rose sharply on Tuesday as investors bet tariffs would limit U.S. agricultural imports and boost domestic producers, defying a broader market crash sparked by the escalating U.S.-China trade war.
Shares of Dabeinong Tech, a seed and animal feed producer, rose 6.45% by 0424 GMT on Tuesday and shares of Wens Foodstuff, one of the country’s largest pig breeders, were up 5.1%.
Stocks of other key agricultural firms Wellhope Foods and New Hope Liuhe rose by 6.3% and 2.45%, respectively.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s harsher-than-expected import levies, and China’s response with tariffs of its own, has prompted a whirlwind of mixed tariff-related headlines that have whipped markets back and forth globally, wiping trillions of dollars in stock market value in just a few sessions.
In contrast, Chinese agricultural stocks have advanced this month. A Hang Seng index of agricultural products stocks listed in mainland China is up 8.6% in April.
Yang Tingwu, vice general manager of asset manager Tongheng Investment, said China’s retaliatory tariffs benefit domestic farm products, and the sector is also seen as strategically vital in the escalating trade war.
“In the short term, fewer imported agriculture products is a boon to the domestic farming industry,” said Yang, who bought agriculture stocks this week. “In the long term, China needs self-sufficiency in grain production in an intensifying rivalry with the U.S.”
After market close on Monday, China unveiled a 10-year strategy to boost domestic agriculture and create a more secure food supply by 2035.
China retaliated against Trump’s tariffs on Friday with extra levies of 34% on all U.S. goods, adding to 10%-15% tariffs it had imposed on U.S. agricultural goods in March. The combined rate threatens to all-but-end the agricultural trade between the two countries.
(Reporting by Colleen Howe in Beijing, Sameer Manekar in Bangalore and Samuel Shen in Shanghai; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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