SHANGHAI — In blocking shipments of chicken feet, pork ribs and other food products from major American companies, China has escalated a food fight with the United States, threatening to worsen the already tense trade relations between the two nations.
China's quality watchdog agency announced over the weekend that it was suspending some imports from seven U.S. companies, including giants Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. and Tyson Foods.
The agency said that Tyson's frozen foods were tainted with salmonella and that Cargill's pork ribs contained a feed additive approved in the U.S. but not China.
Both companies responded guardedly. Tyson said it had received no notification from the Chinese government about the ban, and Cargill said the manufacturer was already seeking approval for the banned substance.
"We will work with the U.S. and Chinese governments to get this matter resolved," Tyson spokeswoman Libby Lawson said.
The suspension was the latest strike in a widening skirmish that began in March after pet food ingredients from China sickened thousands of dogs and cats in the United States.
Since then, U.S. food regulators also have restricted imports of Chinese shrimp, eel, catfish and other seafood, citing concerns about carcinogens or residues of antibiotics. China has sent back U.S. shipments of dried apricots, raisins and a sugar-free drink mix that regulators said contained too much red dye.
On Sunday, the American Chamber of Commerce in China, whose members include Cargill and Tyson, responded to the suspension with a statement saying that blocking the foods would be proper -- if based on facts.
The statement, by the chamber's chairman, James Zimmerman, also urged China to increase product quality and protection for consumers.
"We do not believe a trade war is imminent," he said. "Both sides have challenges to ensure that consumer health and safety ... is given first priority."
Chinese officials and scholars agreed that the brouhaha over foods wasn't likely to have a big effect on bilateral trade relations.
Still, in recent days Beijing has voiced complaints about what it regards as sensationalized negative reports about Chinese-made goods and indiscriminate action by American food regulators.
"Some foreign media, especially those based in the U.S., have wantonly reported on so-called unsafe Chinese products. They are turning white to black," Li Changjiang, minister of General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, was quoted as saying Sunday by the government-controlled newspaper China Daily.
