On September 10, Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman Yao Jian stated that the Chinese government was strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposed to the preliminary determination announced on September 9 by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) in its countervailing duty investigation of imports of certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from China. According to the preliminary decision in question, the US will impose duties ranging from 10.90 to 30.69 percent on OCTG imports from China.
Mr. Yao said that the US government had failed to recognize the objective information provided by the Chinese government, and still insisted that the Chinese government was subsidizing Chinese steel pipe manufacturers. He went on to add that the US decision did not conform to the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures of the World Trade Organization. The MOC official stated that the way the US defined and calculated the subsidies was incorrect and resulted in higher subsidy rates, thus greatly hurting the interests of Chinese enterprises. In conclusion, Mr. Yao said that the Chinese government and Chinese industry could not accept the decision, and he urged the US to make a correction in the final ruling.