Reuters (Beijing) - China will impose anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on imported cars made in the United States, China's Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of trade disputes between the world's two largest economies.
The duties will affect major U.S. auto makers General Motors (GM.N), Chrysler Group, Ford Motor Company (F.N), and foreign automakers with U.S. production facilities, including BMW BMW.DE, Honda and Mercedes-Benz, the ministry said in a statement on its website (www.mofcom.gov.cn).
China's action comes at an awkward time for US-China relations, with China's currency and trade policies becoming a focus of criticism for U.S. presidential candidates and as China's growing diplomatic and military influence raises concern in the region and beyond.
The ministry said U.S.-produced cars and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) benefited from subsidies and had been dumped into the Chinese market, causing "substantial damage to China's domestic industry".
Vehicles that have engine capacity of 2.5 liters or more would be hit with duties ranging from 2.0 percent to 21.5 percent, it said. They will be imposed for two years from Thursday.
U.S.-China trade tension has been increasing in recent months, particularly in the solar industry, where tit-for-tat investigations into accusations of unfair practices have underscored leaders' warnings of rising protectionism amid gloomy global economic forecasts.
The auto duties could be a shot across the bow by China, fed up with U.S. complaints about its trade policies, rather than a major swipe at foreign auto makers.
"We do not expect a significant impact on our business in China due to the duties. We are less affected than other manufacturers, and we are not unprepared for the measure," a BMW spokeswoman told Reuters.
Foreign car makers generally do not provide detail on how much of what they sell in China is imported, but analysts say that domestically produced cars account for the great bulk of their sales in the country.
The imported vehicles tend to be at the car maker's higher-end, more expensive models. General Motors, for example, imports some Cadillac and SUV models.
Under the new policy, anti-dumping duties on GM cars stand at 8.9 percent, with the rate for models made by BMW at a plant in the United States at 2.0 percent, the ministry said.