China is seriously concerned about a US ruling that has slapped dumping duties on color television imports from China, said an official of the Ministry of Commerce Tuesday.  

The US Department of Commerce Monday imposed tariffs ranging from 27.94 percent to 78.45 percent on color television sets imported from China.

The official, from the ministry's Import and Export Fair Trade Bureau, pointed out that most color television sets exported by China to the United States contain parts that China imports from Japan, the United States and other countries and regions.

"Under such circumstances, it is very hard to understand the US move to impose such high dumping tariffs on Chinese enterprises, unless the United States regards these nations and regions as having dumped color television parts on China," said the official.

He said in China the production and sale of color televisions depend on the market, and the related companies are responsible for their own business and compete with each other.

"It is utterly unjustifiable that the United States still uses India as a third surrogate country to calculate the prices of Chinese products," he said.

The imposition of dumping tariffs in this case also violates the 15th rule of the protocol that China signed when it entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the WTO's basic principles, so it seriously discriminates against Chinese companies.

The United States has accused China of dumping on seven occasions so far this year, involving a total of US$1.6 billion. This has greatly disturbed the normal trade order between China and the United States, said the official.

China will keep a close eye on this case, and will continue to negotiate with the related departments in the United States to safeguard the rights of Chinese color television companies, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2003)