China: U.S. tire tariff sends "wrong signal" to world

BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said Saturday the U.S. decision to impose special protectionist tariffs on tire imports from China was grave trade protectionism and sent a wrong signal to the world.

Chen told Xinhua the U.S. government's decision, which was made Friday night, violated related rules, failed to honor its commitment made on the G-20 financial summit and was not based on the truth.

"It was a misuse of the special safeguard measures and sent a wrong signal to the world," Chen said, stressing China resolutely opposes the U.S. decision.

The decision came after the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that a surge of Chinese-made tires had disrupted the domestic market and cost thousands of jobs in the U.S.

The two sides didn't reach an agreement in spite of rounds of negotiations over the case, Chen said.

According to a Los Angeles Times report Saturday, within 15 days, the U.S. would add a duty of 35 percent in the first year, 30 percent in the second and 25 percent in the third on passenger vehicle and light-truck tires from China.

Chen said China reserves the right to bring the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) while continuing to take necessary measures to support the tire industry and deal with the negative impact caused by the case.

Fan Rende, president of the China Rubber Industry Association, said the organization has sent a protest letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, calling the decision an "extremely unfair" one as it lacked objective bases.

The association also recommended the Chinese government to resort to the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism to handle the case, and appeal to the United States Court of International Trade to protect interests of the related enterprises.