BEIJING — China on April 2 urged the United States to revoke protectionist measures that violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

The trade measures that target just a small number of countries abuse the security exception clause of WTO rules and go against the principle of nondiscrimination in multilateral trade, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in an online statement.

Despite worldwide objection, the US government decided last month to impose a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, with tariffs on imports from EU member states, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the Republic of Korea being suspended until May 1, 2018.

“China’s interests were seriously damaged,” the MOC said.