On March 23, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced a list of US goods, including fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts products, wine, modified ethanol, ginseng, seamless steel tubes, pork products and recycled aluminum on which it might raise tariffs in an escalating trade dispute with US president Donald Trump. In total, 128 US products would be affected by the Chinese proposal.
US products including fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts products, wine, modified ethanol, ginseng and seamless steel tubes, with an export value amounting to $977 million in 2017, could face a 15 percent import tariff in China, while the other products such as pork products and recycled aluminum, with an export value of $1.992 billion last year, could be subject to a 25 percent import tariff.
China has also urged the US to resolve differences through dialogue and consultation instead of setting up trade barriers, in order to avoid greater harm to Sino-US relations.