China on Monday condemned a US decision to slap trade sanctions on Chinese pipes as "protectionist", but did not say if it would retaliate. The response came as Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing Monday to attend a nuclear security summit hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington, and amid tension over trade imbalances between the two countries.
The US Commerce Department said last week it had made a "final determination" in the antidumping duty probe on imports of Chinese tubes used in oil and gas wells, which were valued at around 1.1 billion dollars in 2009. China has sold the products in the United States at 29.94-99.14 percent less than fair value, it said, adding a cash deposit or bond equal to the weighted-average dumping margins would be collected on the goods. "We are concerned about the result of the ruling of the case and are opposed to the protectionist practice," an official with China's commerce ministry, who declined to be named, told AFP.
The penalties on Chinese tubular goods were the latest following other US trade sanctions and tit-for-tat moves by Beijing. The United States has imposed duties on a number of Chinese imports, from tyres and electric blankets to paper and wire decking. China has responded with its own penalties on imports from the United States of chicken meat and steel products.