China opens probe of U.S. car imports

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Chinese trade officials said the Ministry of Commerce would investigate U.S. vehicle imports for anti-competitive trade practices.

The probe came at the request of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade association, the China Daily reported Friday.

Trade officials will be looking for dumping practices -- selling items, in this case cars, at lower than cost -- and for unfair government subsidies, the newspaper said.

The Ministry of Commerce said it would look into 24 of 31 different government subsidies the trade association alleges unfairly support the U.S. auto industry.

The investigation was announced one day after the U.S. assigned preliminary anti-dumping of up to 99 percent on Chinese oil pipes.

"China is resolutely opposed to U.S. abuse of protectionism and will take measures to safeguard the interests of domestic industry," said Yao Jian, Ministry of Commerce spokesman.

The investigation applies to off-road vehicles and sedans with engine displacements of 2.0 liters or more, the newspaper said.