China said yesterday it had launched an “anti-dumping and anti-subsidy” probe into imports of some US car products and chicken meat, a day after Washington slapped tariffs on Chinese tire imports.
“In line with national laws and World Trade Organization rules, the commerce ministry has started an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy examination of some imported US car products and chicken meat,” the government said on its Web site.
The action came a day after China expressed anger over a decision by US President Barack Obama’s administration on Friday to slap steep tariffs on imported Chinese tires.
China called that move “protectionist” and had threatened retaliation in China’s first trade spat with the Obama administration.
“Recently, the commerce ministry has received word from domestic industries indicating that the above mentioned products had entered our nation’s markets via dumping, subsidies and other unfair trade means,” the statement said. “This impacted domestic industries and the commerce ministry was requested to launch an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe.”
It gave no further details on the exact products involved or the alleged trade violations.
The White House had announced punitive duties of an additional 35 percent on Chinese-made tires just weeks before Obama is scheduled to host his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) at the G20 summit later this month.
Obama signed a determination to apply an increased duty to all imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China for a period of three years, the White House said in a statement on Friday.
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