CHINA and the United States look set to engage in another trade friction, this time in the auto parts industry, as China's Ministry of Commerce yesterday warned more anti-dumping investigations may be initiated by the US.

The ministry has asked the domestic industry association and related companies to monitor closely the issue and to be prepared, it said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Alliance for American Manufacturing claimed that China's subsidy has damaged the auto parts industry in the US and caused job losses. It called on the US to halt the imports of Chinese auto parts and launch anti-dumping and anti-tariff probes on car components, including engine, electronic devices and tires.

The anti-dumping probes may lead to the US complaining to the World Trade Organization.

John Zeng, an analyst at industrial researcher LMC Automotive, said: "Most Chinese auto parts exported to the US market target the low-to-middle class segment and were no longer manufactured by US companies."

He added that if the US companies didn't import labor-intensive products from China, "they would still source from other markets like India instead of producing domestically."