Possible two-year wait for China to eliminate thermal coal import tariff

摘要

Australian thermal coal shippers such as BHP Billiton, Glencore, Peabody Energy and Rio Tinto may potentially have to wait until June 2017 for China to eliminate its 6% tariff on imports of Australian thermal coal, the Australian government said in a statement Wednesday. Marking the official signing of Australia's free-trade agreement with China Wednesday, the statement issued by Canberra said: “The tariffs on coking coal will be removed on day one, with the tariff on thermal coal being phased out over two years.”