China will follow the cases and preserve its rights of taking the cases to the WTO. It urges the US to take prudent and restraint attitude toward taking trade remedy measures.

 

The US Commerce Department announced the dual investigations into imports of pre-stressed concrete steel wire strand, steel grating and welded-wire rack decking imports from China on June 17, 19 and 26.

 

In April, the same investigations were launched against oil well pipes from China and the US International Trade Commission made its preliminary determination in May that Chinese products had made injury to the US industry.

 

The intensive actions against Chinese steel products reflected the mounting trade protectionism force in the US since the financial crisis. The Chinese government thinks that the US was sending a wrong message of protectionism to the US itself and the international community, and that the US action would lead to serious damage of the interest of the downstream steel industries in the US, and the normal China-US trade on iron and steel products as well, said an official with the Bureau of Fair Trade for Imports and Exports, the Ministry of Commerce in the statement.

 

Chinese industries are strongly opposed against such intensive investigations targeting at Chinese steel products.

 

Chinese steel products may face as high as 131 percent to 316 percent anti-dumping duties in those three cases launched in June. According to the US statistics, it imported 178 million USD of pre-stressed concrete steel wire strand, 90 million USD of steel grating and 317 million USD of welded-wire rack decking from China in 2008.

 

The US International Trade Commission will make its preliminary decision in July. If the injury is confirmed by the ITC, the Commerce Department will make its decision on anti-dumping investigation in August and on countervailing in November.