China’s Ministry of Finance has announced that as of July 1 it will eliminate or reduce rebates of export taxes for thousands of additional products. The rebates will be removed entirely for 553 types of goods, including fertilizers, cement, salt and leather, due to concerns about the energy and environmental effects associated with their production. In addition, the ministry will lower the rebates for another 2,268 products, including textiles and apparel, footwear, toys and plastic goods. These cuts, like those the ministry has made on two other occasions this year, are designed in large part to help slow the growth of China’s trade surplus, which has surged to record levels this year and is causing political problems for Beijing with some of its trading partners.