Beijing's tariffs "firmly protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, including American companies", vice commerce minister Ling Ji told a panel of representatives of US companies on Sunday, his ministry said.

Those levies -- which come into effect on April 10 -- "are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system", he told the representatives, including of electric vehicle giant Tesla, GE Healthcare and Medtronic.

"The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States," Ling said.

He urged the firms to "take pragmatic actions to jointly maintain the stability of global supply chains and promote mutual cooperation and win-win outcomes".

China said on Friday it would slap 34 percent tariffs on all imports of US goods, in retaliation for levies at the same level announced by US President Donald Trump.

In response to the showdown, trading floors were overcome by a wave of selling on Monday.

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Tesla

MEDTRONIC