1st LD: China mulls higher tariffs on U.S. imports

BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China announced Friday that it is considering higher tariffs for imported U.S. products worth about 3 billion U.S. dollars to balance losses caused by the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China.

The measures, or the suspension of tariff concessions, will target 128 items of U.S. products, including pork, wines and seamless steel tubes, the Ministry of Commerce said on its website.

According to the ministry, the measures will include a 15-percent tariff on products including fruits, nuts, wines and seamless steel tubes, and a 25-percent tariff on pork and recycled aluminum products.

The measures will be implemented in two stages: in the first stage, the 15-percent tariff will be imposed if the two countries could not reach an agreement on trade issues within scheduled time; in the second stage, the 25-percent import tax will be imposed after evaluating the impact caused by the U.S. policies, the ministry said.

Despite worldwide objections, the United States decided to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, with initial exemptions for Canada and Mexico. Enditem