BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Wednesday voiced strong opposition against the United States' imposition of anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese oil well pipes, saying the move was "discriminatory."

    The United States made a decision Tuesday to impose duties ranging from 10.36 percent to 15.78 percent on Chinese oil well pipes for alleged unfair subsidies.

    "China is strongly opposed to the U.S. move of continuing with its discriminatory measures and arbitrarily raising the anti-subsidy duty rates," said Yao Jian, spokesman of the MOC.

    Yao reiterated that the United States should live up to its promise made at the G20 Summit and the consensus reached earlier by leaders of the two countries to fight trade protectionism.

    Earlier this month, the U.S. Commerce Department also slapped preliminary anti-dumping tariffs on the pipe up to 99 percent based on the allegation that "Chinese producers/exporters have sold OCTG (oil country tubular goods) in the United States at prices ranging from zero to 99.14 percent less than normal value."

    Customs data showed that pipes involved were worth 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, taking up 46 percent of the total amount of Chinese steel products exported to the United States (6.9 billion dollars).

    More than 90 companies were affected, including major steel companies like Baosteel, Tianjin Pipe and Ansteel.

U.S. government sets countervailing duties on tubular goods from China

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday announced its decision to set final countervailing duties (CVD) on imports of the 2.6 billion dollar oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from China, the biggest U.S. trade action against China.

    The department said in its final determination that it found Chinese producers/exporters of OCTG have received net countervailable subsidies ranging from 10.36 to 15.78 percent, which means that the Chinese companies involved in this case will receive CVD in this range respectively. Full story

U.S. sets preliminary duties on China steel products

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government announced preliminary determination in the countervailing duty investigation on imports of prestressed concrete steel wire strand from China, according to a statement released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

    The department said that Chinese producers and exporters of prestressed concrete steel wire stand have received net countervailable subsidies ranging from 7.53 to 12.06 percent. Full story