China unveils list of potential retaliatory tariffs on US goods

[BEIJING] China released Friday a list of potential tariffs on US$3 billion worth of US goods, from pork to fruits and wine, that it could impose in retaliation to new US trade sanctions.

The commerce ministry warned in a statement that a 15 per cent tariff on a first batch of goods worth almost US$1 billion - including fresh fruit, nuts and wine - would be imposed if the United States fails to reach a negotiated agreement.

A 25 per cent would be imposed on a second category of goods totalling nearly US$2 billion, including pork and aluminium scrap, after "further evaluating the impact of the US measures on China", the statement said.

"China and the United States as the world's top two economies, cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries," the statement said.

China "urges the US side to resolve the concerns of the Chinese side as soon as possible" through dialogue and "avoid damage to the overall situation of Sino-US cooperation", it said.

The list noticeably does not include soya beans, which Chinese state-run newspaper the Global Times had suggested should be targeted by Beijing.

It would be a major blow to US farmers, as a third of their soya bean exports go to China, which totalled US$14 billion last year.

And the political stakes are high: US President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the 10 top soya bean-producing states in the 2016 election.

Mr Trump on Thursday hit China with tariffs on up to US$60 billion of imports to retaliate against the "theft" of American intellectual property, fuelling fears of a trade war between the world's two largest economies.

AFP