The U.S. government will investigate charges that Chinese companies are selling oil well drill pipe in the United States at unfairly low prices, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
It is the first U.S. trade probe of the year against China after about a dozen in 2009. The proliferation of cases in recent years has strained U.S.-China trade ties.
The United Steelworkers union and a group of companies from Texas and Illinois have asked for anti-dumping duties ranging from 429 percent to 496 percent.