The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Wednesday that it was strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to a recent final U.S. ruling on the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe into steel pipes imported from China.

The U.S. Department of Commerce ruled on May 30 that Chinese companies that produce standard steel pipes receive government subsidies.

As a result, it decided to impose anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imported pipes from China.

Anti-subsidy duties that could be implemented are set at more than 615 percent on steel pipes from Tianjin Shuangjie Pipe Group, one of the highest rates of duty ever imposed on Chinese products, according to an announcement made by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

An MOC spokesman said China is deeply unhappy with and strongly opposes the U.S. practice of continuing to launch anti-subsidy probes into Chinese products after similar investigations.

The use of anti-subsidy measures infringes U.S. rules and the tradition of not adopting anti-subsidy measures against non-market economies, which has been practiced since 1984, the spokesman said.

What is more serious is the U.S. ruling that China distorted the domestic prices of hot-rolled sheet steel and subsidies were received by all pipe producers, ranging from state-owned to private makers, he said.

It runs counter to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and has greatly hurt the interests of Chinese industry and is not acceptable to China, the spokesman said.

ln June 2007, the United States initiated combined anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese-made standard steel pipes.

Qi Xiangdong, deputy secretary of the China Steel Association, called it unfair, since the government does not provide subsidies to steel makers.

Industry experts said that the profit margin for this type of steel pipe is relatively low, and they added that the extra tariff would lead to substantially reduced profits, forcing some firms to seriously consider leaving the U.S. market and finding opportunities elsewhere.

China will continue to use legal means and WTO dispute settlement mechanisms to protect the legitimate rights and interests of domestic companies, the spokesman added.

(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2008)