China may hike tariffs on US pork, apples, wine, etc.

FILE – In this Jan. 30, 2011, file photo, wine imported from the U.S. is displayed at a supermarket in Beijing. China announced a list of U.S. goods including pork, apples and steel pipe on Friday, March 23, 2018, that it said may be hit with higher import duties in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff hike on steel and aluminum. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

BEIJING — China announced on Friday that a list of US goods including pork, apples, and steel pipe might be hit with higher import duties in response to United States President Donald Trump’s tariff hike on steel and aluminum.

The Commerce Ministry called on Washington to negotiate a settlement as soon as possible but set no deadline.

A ministry statement said the higher US tariffs “seriously undermine” the global trading system.

“The Chinese side urges the US 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-US 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 in 2017. They would be hit with a 15 percent tariff increase, mirroring the US duty hike of 15 percent on aluminum.

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. /kga