US President George W. Bush on Friday rejected a request to place quotas on steel pipe imported from China.

"Imposing import relief would cost US consumers substantially more than the increased income that could be realized by domestic producers," Bush said in a statement released at his Texas ranch where he is staying for holiday.

US pipemakers and a labor group had asked the Bush administration to impose the quotas on certain kinds of steel pipe imported from China and used primarily in construction.

On this August, the United States launched a probe to see if safeguard measures were warranted against two classes of China-made circular welded non-alloy steel pipes, or standard pipes.

More than 50 enterprises in China are involved in the investigation, including 20 with an annual export volume of over US$1 million.

In 2004, China exported standard pipes valued some US$110 million to the United States, up 657.5 percent over the previous year.

The figure hit US$87.5 million in the first half of this year, reflecting a 234.6 percent increase.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2005)