THE United States will slap an average anti-dumping tariff of 34.48 percent on imports of copper tubes from China in the latest move as trade disputes between the two countries escalate.

The US Commerce Department said on Thursday that Chinese makers of seamless refined copper pipes and tubes sold the products at below-market prices in the US.

Zhejiang Hailiang Co, a major manufacturer of the product, has to pay a duty of 58.69 percent in a preliminary ruling, while other Chinese makers would have to pay an average tariff of 34.48 percent.

The department said the US imported US$233 million worth of the tubes from China last year.

The latest tariff followed a spate of trade rows between the two countries. On April 28, China decided to impose a countervailing duty of up to 31.4 percent on imports of American chicken products. Its action came after the US initiated an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe on Chinese aluminum extrusions.

Analysts said the trade disputes would be an obstacle to a solid global economic recovery.