China has announced a list of US goods including pork, apples and steel pipe it says may be hit with higher import duties in response to President Donald Trump's tariff hike on steel and aluminium.
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 co-operation".
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.
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The ministry said China bought about $US1 billion worth of those goods last year. They would be hit with a 15 per cent tariff increase, mirroring the US duty hike of 15 per cent on aluminium.
A second group of products targeted for a possible 25 per cent tariff, mirroring the higher American charge on steel, includes pork and aluminium scrap, according to the ministry.
