China urges US to drop new furniture tariffs

China urged the United States on Thursday to overturn a US Commerce Department decision to set new tariffs on imports of some Chinese furniture, saying it violated WTO principles. "This is not fair to Chinese companies, and also runs counter to the United States' obligations under the relevant WTO agreements," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on its Web site.
"China believes that resorting to anti-dumping measures is not helpful to effectively resolving this problem."
In the largest US anti-dumping action against China, the Commerce Department set duties of up to 198 percent on some $1.2 billion worth of Chinese wooden bedroom furniture.
Duties imposed on several Chinese companies, which together accounted for an estimated one-third of Chinese wooden bedroom furniture shipments by value, ranged from 2.2 percent to 198.08 percent. An 8.64 percent tariff was set on 115 other companies that make up the bulk of remaining shipments.