BEIJING, Dec 23 (Reuters) - China on Wednesday slapped anti-dumping duties on imports of carbon steel fasteners from the European Union, just a day after the EU extended import duties on shoes from China and Vietnam.
A review found that Chinese producers of certain types of fasteners such as screws and washers had been materially injured by dumping by EU firms, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.
It will enforce the anti-dumping duties, ranging from 16.8 percent to 24.6 percent, starting Dec. 28.
China has been involved in a tussle with the EU over fasteners this year, just one of a series of trade complaints lodged against Beijing by its trading partners.
The EU imposed its own anti-dumping duties on Chinese imports of some screws and bolts in January, a decision that China later challenged at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
While China has seen more cases taken against it, it has also grown more ready to bring cases of its own, something many analysts say is a healthy sign that it is becoming a more active member of the WTO.
In the latest instance of trade tensions, EU ministers voted on Tuesday to extend import duties on shoes from China and Vietnam by 15 months, despite a vote on Nov. 19 by the EU's anti-dumping committee to reject plans to extend the tariffs. [ID:nLDE5BL0R0]
China said it was unhappy with the decision and would take action via the WTO.
"China is extremely dissatisfied," Yao Jian, a spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry, said in a statement on the ministry's website (www.mofcom.gov.cn) late on Tuesday. (Reporting by Jason Subler; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)