China could file suit at the World Trade Organization in order to protect its steel industry, the Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday, after the United States said some steel imports from China were hitting U.S. producers.
The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Friday that imports of corrosion-resistant steel from China and four other countries were harming U.S. producers, the final step in the imposition of U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties.
The U.S. Commerce Department had already slapped duties of up to 450 percent on the steel products from China and duties ranging from 3 percent to 92 percent on corrosion-resistant steel from Italy, India, South Korea and Taiwan.
The ministry said Washington's large anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties would force Chinese companies to pull this type of steel product out of the U.S. market.
"China's steel industry export interests will suffer a serious impact and the Chinese steel industry is strongly opposed to this," the ministry said in a statement posted to its website.
