China protests U.S. steel duties, starts probe on American cars share business

Posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 12:49 PM EST.

China protested U.S. duties on steel pipes and announced the start of an anti-dumping probe into American carmakers as trade tensions escalate ahead of President Barack Obama’s first visit to the nation this month, Bloomberg reported.

The levies of as much as 99 percent on $3.2 billion of Chinese exports are “discriminatory,” the Commerce Ministry in Beijing said and the story reported. The penalties were announced in a preliminary decision by the U.S. Commerce Department yesterday, Bloomberg said.

The disputes may test relations between the United States and the biggest foreign buyer of its debt ahead of Obama’s visit on Nov. 16, the news service said. The two nations, with $409 billion of trade between them, have swapped complaints about steel, poultry and tires as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression spurred countries to protect jobs, the story said. (Bloomberg)

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