At his restaurant in Beijing, Geng Xiaoyun used to offer a special dish of salt-baked chicken feet — or “phoenix talons” as they are called in China — imported from America.
With prices climbing 30% from March due to tariffs, the owner of Kunyuan restaurant had to pull the Chinese delicacy from the menu.
“American chicken feet are so beautiful,” Geng said. “They’re spongy so they taste great. Chinese [chicken] feet just aren’t as good.”
Geng can now source chicken feet from Brazil or Russia but said they just don’t stand up to the American ones. He keeps a small stash for himself but hopes to serve his American phoenix talons once again.
“The price of American chicken feet will come back down,” Geng said, “as long as there are no big changes in the world’s political situation.”
Chicken feet.
Photo Obtained by CNBC
But the 90-day tariff pause agreed by China and the U.S. in Geneva in May is now under threat as both sides have accused each other of breaching the terms.
On Monday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry responded to President Donald Trump’s claim that the country “totally violated its agreement.” The ministry pointed at recent U.S. artificial intelligence chip export controls as actions that “severely undermine” the Geneva pact.
As the world waits and watches, American agricultural products have been vanishing from Chinese stores and restaurants and losing ground to other imports.
U.S. Department of Agriculture grade beef has been a draw for years at Home Plate, a Beijing restaurant known locally for its American-style barbecue. However, staff said the restaurant stopped serving American beef last month.
“The Great American” burger on a menu at Home Plate in Bejing, China.
Photo Obtained by CNBC
Dishes like “The Great American” burger are made with beef imported from Australia.
Australian beef has zero duty under the terms of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, though China does maintain the right to a safeguard limit on those imports.
Liu Li, a beef supplier at the Sanyuanli market for three decades, said the tariffs have disrupted supply, hiking the price of U.S. beef by 50% compared to before the tariff fight.
“U.S. beef is fattier and tastier,” Li said. “It’s a shame we’re in a trade war. The high price is just too much to bear.”
