China minister expresses dissatisfaction over tariffs to new US trade secretary

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BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has expressed strong dissatisfaction with U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in a letter addressed to the newly confirmed U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the ministry said on Wednesday.

Wang sent the letter to Lutnick on Wednesday to congratulate him on his confirmation, according the ministry.

“The move by the U.S. to unilaterally impose tariffs undermined normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S.”, Wang said in the letter.

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports in early February, saying Beijing needed to staunch the flow of fentanyl, a deadly opioid, into the United States. U.S. administrations have been urging China to crack down on shipments of a China-made precursor chemical needed to make the drug. Beijing, which has brushed off the opioid use as the United States’ problem, responded with retaliatory tariffs and filed a WTO dispute against Washington.

In his letter Wang said China was willing to work with the U.S. to “strengthen dialogue, manage differences, promote cooperation” and hoped to create a “fair and predictable policy environment” for the two countries’ business communities to cooperate.

“China hopes to resolve respective concerns through equal dialogue and consultation”, he said.

On the issue of fentanyl, China says it has taken significant steps to crack down on the chemicals and the illicit drug trade and Wang said the two countries have carried out “extensive and in-depth” cooperation in controlling the drug and achieved considerable results.

(Reporting by Xiuhao Chen, Yukun Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Tomasz Janowski)