US-China trade further frayed

US-China trade tensions deepened Friday with a US International Trade Commission decision allowing anti-dumping duties on Chinese iron pipe fittings, capping a week when the two countries fought over textile trade.

The ITC completed a yearlong investigation by ruling in a 6-0 vote that two small American firms were harmed by China's sales of pipe fittings at below-market prices.

The vote paves the way for the US Commerce Department to finalize US duties expected to average about 11 per cent on the iron pipe fittings used for natural gas, oil and water pipelines.

The $ 20 million worth of Chinese pipe-fitting shipments are dwarfed by China's textile and apparel exports to the United States, which are valued at about $11 billion a year.

Beijing has voiced outrage over Bush administration plans, announced on Tuesday, to limit surging Chinese exports of knit fabrics, bathrobes and brassieres.

The US textile industry, which has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs from cheap imports, is pressing for protections on a far broader range of clothing from China.

By year's end, Washington and Beijing could also find themselves caught up in a trade fight over furniture.

ITC investigators on Friday were probing China's rapidly growing shipments of wooden bedroom furniture, amid requests by the US industry for stiff anti-dumping duties.

A preliminary vote on whether US companies are harmed by China's furniture exports is expected in mid-to late December, around the time the Commerce Department makes a preliminary decision on possible anti-dumping duties against China.

The disputes come against a backdrop of Beijing's anger over US steel tariffs and Washington's evaporating patience with China's suspected patent and copyright infringement believed to be costing US industries billions of dollars a year.

The two US pipe-fitting companies that sought the anti-dumping duties are Ward Manufacturing of Blossburg, Pennsylvania, and Anvil International Inc., of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Thomas Gleason, vice president of Marketing and sales for Ward Manufacturing, told Reuters on Thursday the Commerce Department notified his firm the final anti-dumping rate would average about 11 per cent, far below what he said was needed to discourage unfair imports.

During testimony yesterday, American firms, many based in Southern states that have been losing textile and manufacturing jobs, complained about China's bedroom furniture exports.