U.S. winners and losers from trade tit-for-tat

(Reuters) - China on Wednesday hit back at President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods by proposing additional tariffs of 25 percent on 106 categories of U.S. imports including soybeans, autos, chemicals and some types of aircraft.

The trade tensions brewing between the top two world economies hit stock markets, with shares of industrial companies with exposure to Chinese markets such as Boeing Co and Deere & Co among the hardest hit.

Following are some of the possible winners and losers among U.S. companies and sectors.

CAR COMPANIES

* U.S. auto maker General Motors Co urged the two countries to engage in constructive dialogue over trade. The company's stock fell as much as 3 percent before reversing course to close higher.

 

* GM rival Ford Motor Co lost as much as 3 percent while electric carmaker Tesla Inc, which depends on China for 17 percent of its revenue, fell as much as 5.8 percent. Shares of Fiat Chrysler fell as much as 3.4 percent before recovering.

* Ford said it encouraged both governments to work together to resolve issues.

BOEING & INDUSTRIALS

* Aircraft maker Boeing Co closed down 1 percent, weighing the most on the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> as documents from China's Ministry of Commerce and the U.S. manufacturer showed the move would affect some older Boeing narrowbody models. It was not immediately clear how much the tariffs would impact its newer aircraft.

Boeing said it was assessing the situation while analysts from JP Morgan said the proposals from China looked to have been calibrated carefully to avoid a major impact on the planemaker.

* Fellow Dow component 3M Co lost as much as 2.4 percent.

* Farming equipment maker Deere lost nearly $10 per share at its lowest. The company urged the two countries to work toward a resolution to "limit uncertainty for farmers and avoid meaningful disruptions to agricultural trade".

TECH MAJORS

* The S&P 500 technology sector <.SPLRCL>, which has the biggest revenue exposure to China among the benchmark's 11 major sectors, dipped 0.5 percent.

* Worst hit in the sector were chip stocks Intel Corp , Nvidia Corp and Broadcom Ltd . China's position as an assembly hub for electronic devices makes it the biggest consumer of semiconductors.

WHISKEY

* Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman Corp slipped about 1 percent before recovering after whiskey was singled out as the only spirit on which China planned to impose more tariffs.

* The Distilled Spirits Council asked the U.S. and China to reach a resolution without subjecting U.S. whiskey to more tariffs which it said would harm Chinese consumers, its hospitality sector and U.S. whiskey exporters.

The council said U.S. whiskey accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total U.S. spirits exported to China, by value, in 2017.

COMMODITIES & CHEMICALS

* DowDuPont Inc said its agriculture unit could be affected by the escalating conflict, warning of price declines for soybeans, and a negative impact on U.S. farmers.

* Grain traders Archer Daniels Midland Co and Bunge Ltd , which trade U.S. soybeans in China, were both off as much as 1.5 percent.

* The American Chemistry Council (ACC) - which counts Exxon , Chevron , Monsanto and others as its members - urged the United States and China to come to an understanding.

"Engaging in a trade war with one of our country's most significant trading partners is not the answer," ACC Chief Executive Officer Cal Dooley said.

WINNERS

* U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc , meat exporter Hormel Foods Corp rose on the prospect of a drop in prices of feedstock soybean following higher Chinese tariffs on U.S. exports.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Shounak Dasgupta)