Ship carrying US soybeans circles outside China for month after tariffs

A cargo ship carrying American soybean exports has reportedly been stuck in the Pacific Ocean off China for a month after failing to arrive at the country before a 25 percent tariff on the good was implemented.

The Peak Pegasus had rushed to sail from the U.S. to China last month, ahead of the tariff start date of July 6. But The Guardian reported Wednesday that the ship arrived just past the deadline, and has been stuck outside China since.

The ship is owned by JP Morgan Asset Management, while the cargo belongs to global merchant Louis Dreyfus, The Guardian reported.

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The trading company is paying about $12,500 a day for the ship to stay near China as executives decide what to do next, meaning it will have paid about $400,000 so far, according to The Guardian.

The ship became a sensation on Chinese social media platform Weibo as it rushed toward the country last month.

China imposed the hefty tariffs on soybeans and other American goods, including orange juice, whiskey and lobsters, last month in response to U.S. tariffs on Chinese products.

The Trump administration announced last month that it would offer $12 billion in aid for farmers impacted by the retaliatory Chinese tariffs. Some lawmakers, including Republicans, slammed the aid package, calling for the tariffs to be removed altogether.

The two nations have engaged in an escalating trade war over the past several months: China announced Wednesday that it would slap 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of U.S. products, just hours after the Trump administration said it would impose the same percentage tariffs on the same amount of Chinese goods.