BEIJING (Commodity Online): The US decision to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese steel pipes has drawn flak from Beijing with the vice-minister of commerce Yi Xiaozhun expressing his dissatisfaction with the American move.

Beijing will make the trade and investment protectionism an issue at next week’s Asia-Pacific summit, he said.

“We resolutely oppose the abuse of protectionist measures,” Yi said at a foreign ministry press conference on Friday.

The US commerce department on Thursday slapped preliminary anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made steel pipes used in the oil and gas industry. It was the biggest US trade action against China to date.

This time, the action will hit Chinese exports that were worth around $3.2 billion last year.

The minister said China will take concrete measures to protect the interests of Chinese enterprises and industries.

Yi added that Beijing will appeal to other members at the APEC summit for support in battling protectionism and for an open, fair and just international trade environment.

In the aftermath of the US decision, the commerce ministry announced it will launch an anti-dumping and anti-subsidies probe into certain types of US cars and off-road vehicles.

The ruling in the US marks another big win for the United Steelworkers Union (USW), which lobbied in both the steel pipe case and the earlier tire case.

The USW was a major supporter of President Obama during last year's presidential campaign and the union is an important ally in his fight for healthcare reform.