A meeting of foreign ministers of the 27-nation bloc approved without discussion the measure of imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty up to 24 percent on China's imported steel wire rods. The definitive measure came after temporary duties were slapped in February following European producers claimed that Chinese producers had sold their products in low prices and hurt their businesses.

The imposing of definitive anti-dumping duties needs the approval of all 27 member states.

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, launched last year an anti-dumping probe against steel wire rods from China, Moldova and Turkey following a complaint lodged in March, 2008 by the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (Eurofer), a Brussels-based industry body representing major EU steel producers such as ArcelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp.

The EU anti-dumping investigation normally takes no more than ayear, and in any case must be completed within 15 months, after which the EU governments will have the final say on whether to impose definite five-year anti-dumping duties.

However, the commission may impose provisional duties within 60days to nine months during the investigation period, which may last for six to nine months.

After that, the commission decides whether to impose definitive anti-dumping duties.

Since last year, the EU lodged a series of anti-dumping probes against steel and iron product imported from China out of baseless claims, straining bilateral trade relations.

China's Ministry of Commerce has voiced regret over the anti-dumping applications and hoped to solve the issue through dialogue and negotiations. It also hoped the commission would refrain from adopting anti-dumping measures.

European steel users are also opposed to any imposing of anti-dumping measures, fearing that they would face supply shortage if the EU takes anti-dumping measures against Chinese steel products.