Business leader says China does not want a trade war

(23 Mar 2018) China announced a three billion US dollars list of US goods including pork, apples and steel pipe on Friday that it said may be hit with higher tariffs in a spiraling trade dispute with US President Donald Trump that companies and investors worry could depress global commerce. The Commerce Ministry urged Washington to negotiate a prompt settlement to the conflict over Trump's tariff hike on steel and aluminum but set no deadline. The ratcheting up of tensions sent a shiver through world financial markets. Shares tumbled on Wall Street and slumped in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 3.5 percent while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 3.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.8 percent. The dollar dipped to 104.85 yen as investors shifted into the Japanese currency, which is viewed as a "safe haven" from risk. The ministry said Chinese purchases of those goods last year totaled three billion US dollars. That would be less than one percent of Chinese imports of US goods and far smaller than the range of imports targeted by Trump's order on Thursday in the technology dispute. Beijing reported a trade surplus of 275.8 billion US dollars with the United States last year, or two-thirds of its global total. Washington reports different figures that put the gap at a record 375.2 billion US dollars. The US-China Business Council (USCBC) which represents Americans that do business in China, said it agreed Chinese "technology transfer" policies need to be improved but it appealed to both governments to reach a negotiated settlement. USCBC president John Frisbie called the Chinese response "pretty restrained." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...