The Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday dismissed a combined anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation by the United States into Chinese off-road tires as severely misplaced.

This was the fifth such probe the US had launched against Chinese imports in less than a year, said ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei, adding that these repeated investigations went against World Trade Organization rules.

The US launched dual investigations into China-made coated free sheet paper in March, carbon steel tubes in June, into light-walled rectangular pipes and tubes as well as laminated woven sacks in July.

Wang said the probes were unfair to Chinese industry and unhelpful to the development of a mutually beneficial Sino-US trade relationship. He added it was an "unwise, wrong move".

China hoped the US would avoid complicating Sino-US trade issues in this manner, said Wang.

Since the US does not treat China as a market economy, the use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures goes against its own domestic rules and practices which dictate anti-subsidy measures do not apply to non-market economies, a regulation that has been in place for over two decades, Wang said on July 20.

(Xinhua News Agency, August 2 2007)