TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Chinese government is considering whether to exclude some essential products from its retaliatory 125% tariffs on American goods, the head of an American business group in China said.

Officials from China’s Commerce Ministry had canvassed businesses in China to identify imports from the United States that are crucial to supply chains and vulnerable to China’s new trade barriers, Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said at an event Friday in Beijing.

“There are some companies who have said that if a long-term tariff war continued, their business model would not work in China and we would see them exit,” Hart said. “We shared that with the Chinese government because they are, of course, trying to foster foreign direct investment.”

Lifesaving drugs and other health care products were one of the clearest sectors of concern, Hart said.

The trade tensions pose a major challenge for China’s economic growth, which has been powered by exports.

President Donald Trump ratcheted up tariffs this month to 145% for more than half of China’s exports to the United States.

Some factories in southern China have already suspended operations since the beginning of this month, raising concerns about whether unemployment could increase in China.

Chinese officials have responded by not only imposing 125% tariffs on U.S. imports, but by encouraging consumers to buy products made in China.

But there are some goods that China does not make. China depends on foreign companies for advanced computer chips, and many in the country’s tech industry have hoped that semiconductors will escape the tariffs.

There have also been indications that China may be relenting on tariffs on semiconductors made in the United States, but no policy has been announced.

This month, a state-backed trade association in China said a significant portion of advanced chips would be exempt from China’s tariffs if they were made outside the United States even if they were sold to China by an American company.