my country has established a relatively mature regulatory system in the field of food security, transforming from "one-way regulation" to "system governance". While improving the resilience of domestic food supply, we should also focus on the resilience of the global food industry chain and supply chain, and build a solid foundation for food security in the dialectical unity of openness and protection.

my country recently announced that it would impose a 15% tariff on wheat and corn originating from the United States, a 10% tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, and dairy products, and a 100% tariff on rapeseed oil, oil residue cakes and peas originating from Canada. This is a defensive counterattack against tariff barriers between the United States and Canada. For domestic agriculture, it also has a role of "breaking the wall" and "consolidating the foundation", forming a strategic balance of both offense and defense, and ensuring food security and stable supply in complex international trade frictions.

Tariffs are an important tool to regulate the prices of imported agricultural products. my country is a major grain importer in the world, the United States is an important source of imports of agricultural products such as soybeans, wheat and corn, and Canada is an important source of imports of agricultural products such as rapeseed and peas in my country. In order to reduce the impact of imports on domestic food security, my country has long implemented import quota management on the three major staple foods of wheat, corn and rice. Imports within the quota are subject to 1% tariffs and 65% tariffs are subject to quota. At the same time, low tariffs are imposed on the import of agricultural products such as soybeans, rapeseed, and peas that are not within the scope of the quota management. The foreign grain prices are low, and my country's imports of agricultural products are low, so the domestic and foreign grain prices are seriously inverted. While the large amount of low-priced grain imports stabilize the domestic grain supply, they also cause varying degrees of damage to the security of the domestic grain industry. In the short term, my country imposes tariffs on most agricultural products in the United States and Canada, and related products may face price fluctuations, but it can also reduce the impact of imported grain on the domestic market, protect the interests of grain-growing farmers, and maintain the security of the food industry.

In the long run, my country imposes tariffs on most agricultural products in the United States and Canada, which can create a substitution effect within the country, promote the adjustment of agricultural planting structure, increase the sowing area of ​​related products, and play a role in solidifying the foundation. In 2024, my country's grain output exceeded 1.4 trillion jin for the first time, and the per capita grain output reached 1,000 jin, with sufficient reserves, which are enough to cope with the risks and challenges that may be brought about by the imposition of tariffs. In the past two years, some grain varieties in my country have experienced phased surplus, and structural contradictions are still relatively prominent. For example, the self-sufficiency rate of soybeans is low, and there is a shortage of high-oil and high-yield soybeans; food is absolutely safe, but there is less grain for high-quality strong-gluten wheat and healthy new varieties such as selenium, zinc, and calcium. This year, my country will continue to strengthen the supply guarantee of important agricultural products such as grain, and through measures such as arable land protection, seed industry revitalization, and scientific and technological agriculture development, we will further promote the large-scale yield of grain and oil crops to ensure that the grain output is stable at around 1.4 trillion jin. Increase efforts to adjust the planting structure, take multiple measures to consolidate the results of soybean plant expansion, tap the potential of rapeseed and peanut plant expansion, support the development of woody oil materials such as oil tea, increase the self-sufficiency rate of soybean oil materials, reduce external dependence, and add confidence to ensure food security.

The imposition of tariffs on most agricultural products in the United States and Canada can further promote the diversification of import channels, reduce the risks brought by a single import channel, enhance my country's bargaining power in international food trade, and ensure the dominance and stability of grain imports. While stably consolidating traditional import sources, my country has continuously deepened cooperation with traditional grain sources such as South America, Oceania, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and effectively expanded new imported grain sources. The sources of soybean imports have expanded from the United States to Brazil, Argentina, Russia and some African countries, forming an import pattern with Brazilian beans as the main and US beans as the auxiliary; the sources of corn imports have expanded from the United States to Brazil and other countries; the sources of wheat imports mainly include the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries; rapeseed imports mainly come from Canada, Australia and other countries. my country has carried out agricultural cooperation with more than 140 countries and regions, and its circle of friends is getting bigger and bigger, and imported varieties are becoming more and more abundant. At present, the impact of the imposition of tariffs on the domestic market is limited and unlikely to lead to severe fluctuations in the domestic market.

Looking from a historical perspective, imposing tariffs has always been a means to maintain food security, not a purpose. my country has established a relatively mature regulatory system in the field of food security, transforming from "one-way regulation" to "system governance". While improving the resilience of domestic food supply, we should also focus on the resilience of the global food industry chain and supply chain, build a solid foundation for food security in the dialectical unity of openness and protection, and thus grasp strategic initiatives in changing situations. (Author: Liu Hui Source: Economic Daily)