China’s Ministry of Commerce is responding forcefully to the U.S. A new U.S. ruling imposes high anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese tires exports.

Both the Chinese government and Chinese tire industry said the investigation is flawed and unfair.

CGTN’s Wang Hui has the details.

On Monday, the U.S. Commerce Department issued the final ruling on Chinese tires for trucks and passenger vehicles: up to nearly 23 percent in anti-dumping tariffs, and up to 65 percent in anti-subsidy tariffs.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry has slammed the decision as unfair. Beijing says Washington is misusing the surrogate country approach.

Beijing also took aim at the U.S. anti-subsidy investigation, saying Washington is mixing political bias with business.

The year-long investigation has already affected Chinese tire exports to the U.S.

The gross export of these products totaled $1.5 billion U.S. in 2015, but dropped to $1 billion in the first 11 months of last year.

More than 100 enterprises have been affected.

The Chinese Industry of Tires has released a joint statement to voice their strong dissatisfaction. They believe this is a protectionist approach that tries to impede Chinese tires’ fair competition in the American market.

China is defending its enterprises with a lawsuit against the U.S. actions at the WTO.

This is the first ruling to be issued under the Trump administration. And, China’s Ministry of Commerce has noted that they’ve seen a stronger sentiment of trade protectionism coming from the U.S.