China calls U.S. tariffs discriminatory

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- China says the U.S. Commerce Department's decision to levy an average of about 13.7 percent anti-subsidy tariffs on its oil well pipes is "discriminatory."

The tariffs, designed to counter China's unfair government subsidies, were announced Tuesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. They will range from 10.36 percent to 15.78 percent, affecting more than $2.5 billion worth of Chinese exports.

"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, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

The latest development comes on the heels of U.S. President Barack Obama's China visit last week.

Yao said the United States should live up to its promise at the G20 Summit and the consensus reached earlier by leaders of the two countries to fight trade protectionism, Xinhua reported.

Earlier this month, the United States also decided to slap preliminary anti-dumping duties of up to 99 percent on some Chinese oil pipe imports. That action came after a preliminary finding that Chinese exporters had sold the tubular goods in the United States "at prices ranging from zero to 99.14 percent less than normal value."

The U.S. Commerce Department will make its final determination of anti-dumping and countervailing duties next year.

Other U.S.-China trade disputes relate to tires, automotive parts and chickens.