By Ken Brown 

China is pushing back against the U.S. in the growing trade dispute between the two countries. A giant Chinese company is hedging its bets.

State-owned China Merchants Group is considering selling Loscam, a maker of wooden and plastic shipping pallets, according to Bloomberg. China Merchants bought the company in 2010 for a price reported at the time of roughly $650 million.

People advising China Merchants say the company could be worth $1 billion. But they better get the deal done quickly. China said it would put tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. exports after the U.S. put new import taxes on $200 billion of Chinese goods. Now the U.S. is expected to retaliate.

Less trade means fewer pallets, which is bad for Loscam, whose business runs across Asia and Australia. Loscam prides itself on recycling its pallets; a new buyer might end up with a lot of sawdust on its hands.

Write to Ken Brown at ken.brown@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 19, 2018 12:54 ET (16:54 GMT)