China announced a list of U.S. goods including pork, apples and steel pipe it said Friday may be hit with higher import duties in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff hike on steel and aluminum.
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The Commerce Ministry called on Washington to negotiate a settlement as soon as possible but set no deadline.
A ministry statement said the higher U.S. tariffs “seriously undermine” the global trading system.
“The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to resolve the concerns of the Chinese side as soon as possible,” the ministry said. It appealed for dialogue “to avoid damage to overall Chinese-U.S. cooperation.”
Goods targeted for possible higher Chinese tariffs include wine, apples and ethanol, which would hit agricultural areas where voters supported Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
The ministry said China bought about $1 billion worth of those goods last year. They would be hit with a 15 percent tariff increase, mirroring the U.S. duty hike of 15 percent on aluminum.
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A second group of products targeted for a possible 25 percent tariff, mirroring the higher American charge on steel, includes pork and aluminum scrap, according to the ministry.
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This story has been corrected to show China announced its tariff increases are tentative, instead of saying they are taking effect immediately.
