HONG KONG — The Chinese government issued an uncommonly mild response on Friday to a United States trade complaint challenging China’s imposition last December of steep tariffs on American-made sport utility vehicles and midsize and large cars.

The Obama administration told the World Trade Organization on Thursday that China’s antidumping and antisubsidy tariffs, totaling as much as 22 percent, violated free trade rules.

When the United States, the European Union and Japan filed a joint complaint with the W.T.O. in March accusing China of improperly restricting exports of rare earth metals, the Chinese government responded with a vigorous public denial of wrongdoing. But the response Friday to the automotive trade complaint was considerably more reserved.

Liu Weimin, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a regularly scheduled briefing Friday afternoon that “Sino-U.S. trade cooperation is beneficial to both countries, and as the two countries trade, it would be hard to avoid some friction and differences — the important thing is that both sides act in ways that mutually benefit, show mutual understanding and allow mutual coordination.”