The Chinese Commerce Ministry has slammed a recent decision by the United States to continue an investigation into certain carbon and alloy steel imports from 12 countries, including China, South Korea and Japan.

The US has adopted anti-dumping measures for over 20 years against certain carbon plate produced in China, claiming imports jeopardize the domestic steel industry. But the Chinese government said only 6% of all imports of this plate came from China last year. China added it will support domestic producers during the US investigation.