China to end anti-dumping duties on US car imports

SHANGHAI - China said on Friday it would stop levying anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on certain types of cars imported from the United States when the measures expire on Dec 15.

On Dec 14, 2011, China started levying punitive duties on sedans and sport-utility vehicles (SUV) with engines of 2.5 litres and above imported from the United States, in retaliation for US trade policies.

China said at the time that US carmakers including General Motors Co and Chrysler Group had received government subsidies and dumped their vehicles into the Chinese market, which harmed China's auto industry.

On Friday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website that the duties would be terminated because it had not received any applications for a renewal in the anti-dumping investigations.

Growth of the market for imported cars in China eased this year in line with the domestic auto market, partly due to Beijing's anti-extravagance campaign.

During the first 10 months, 908,000 imported vehicles were sold in China, up 9.6 percent from a year earlier, according to China Automobile Trading Co Ltd. That compares with an increase of 21.7 percent during the same period last year.

The State-owned auto importer expects the imported vehicles market to grow 7 percent next year.

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