German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas highlighted the importance of global free trade with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi ahead of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, AFP reported.

"To put it clearly: protectionism and isolation with regard to free trade must be kept from getting the upper hand again in free trade," Maas said.

Wang Yi, in his turn, highlighted  the importance of Chinese and German common interests, including finance and security.

According to him, China will continue to open its markets to its trading partners.

As reported earlier, the U.S. President Donald Trump decided to impose duties on steel and aluminum 25% and 10% respectively. However, the introduction of duties for European countries was postponed until May 1, and then extended until June 1.

The U.S. also proposes tariffs on 1,300 Chinese goods and plans to apply the tariffs to about $50 billion worth of goods.