TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Chinese government is considering whether to exclude some essential products from its retaliatory 125% tariffs on American goods, said the head of an American business group in China.
Officials from China’s Commerce Ministry had canvassed businesses in China to identify imports from the United States that are crucial to supply chains and vulnerable to China’s new trade barriers, Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said at an event in Beijing on Friday.
“There are some companies who have said that if a long-term tariff war continued, their business model would not work in China and we would see them exit,” Hart said. “We shared that with the Chinese government because they are of course trying to foster foreign direct investment.”
Lifesaving drugs and other health care products were one of the clearest sectors of concern, Hart said.
The trade tensions pose a major challenge for China’s economic growth, which has been powered by exports. President Donald Trump ratcheted up tariffs this month to 145% for more than half of China’s exports to the United States.