After losing a race to reach China before Beijing imposed an added 25 per cent tariff on a swath of US goods last month, the Peak Pegasus sat anchored in the Pacific for weeks while its 70,000 tonnes of soyabeans on board awaited a buyer.
But this week the vessel began unloading its gold-coloured cargo at a port in east China. Its customer, state-owned conglomerate Sinograin, apparently decided it had no choice but to swallow a $6m tariff bill. More ships are on the way from the US.
While Washington and Beijing have threatened tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in trade, tariffs have so far been imposed on $68bn of goods, with $32bn more to follow next week. Soyabeans are the single largest commodity to be hit.