CHINA was strongly against the move by the United States to start anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese-made steel pipes, the Ministry of Commerce said over the weekend.

"Blind accusations of dumping or subsidies in Chinese imports is lacking in factual basis, which China strongly opposes," the ministry said in a statement on its Website late on Saturday.

The US Department of Commerce said on Wednesday it had initiated anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations following a petition from organizations including US Steel Corp, V&M Star LP, TMK IPSCO and the United Steelworkers' union.

The investigation into Chinese-made steel pipes could lead to duties of more than 100 percent.

Cases of this kind will fuel trade tensions after US President Barack Obama approved punitive tariffs on American imports of Chinese-made tires less than a month ago.

A US labor union has blamed the loss of thousands of jobs on the rapid growth of tire imports from China.

US steel firms said in their petition that Chinese manufacturers "who have benefited from massive government subsidies" sold steel pipes at prices below production costs.

These companies requested a 98.37 percent anti-dumping duty against Chinese imports and additional duties to offset these so-called subsidies.

The products involved in the steel case include seamless carbon and alloy pipes used to carry water, steam, oil products and natural gas.

Resorting to trade protectionism would not solve the real problem, and instead hurt the US steel business as well as bilateral trade, the MOC said in the statement.

Last week, the European Union imposed anti-dumping tariffs on some Chinese steel pipes after concluding that their imports might cause a threat to local businesses.