China probes GM, Ford imports after U.S. tire duties

China is investigating whether U.S. carmakers including General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. benefited unfairly from government assistance, Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming said today.

China “has the right to investigate” U.S. auto imports, Chen said after meeting U.S. trade officials today in Hangzhou city. China “will conduct the investigations in a just and transparent review,” he said.

The probe comes after President Barack Obama on Sept. 11 levied duties of 35 percent on $1.8 billion of automobile tires from China, on a petition by the United Steelworkers union. Two days later China said it's looking into alleged dumping of U.S. auto parts and chicken products.

GM, the largest overseas automaker in China, more than doubled September sales from a year earlier to 181,148 vehicles. In the first nine months, sales were 1.29 million, surpassing the tally for the whole of 2008 in its second-largest market.

For Ford, sales in China jumped 32 percent to 316,639 vehicles and the company is building a new $490 million plant to tap the fast-growing auto market that is set to pass the U.S. as the world's largest this year.

Full-year vehicle sales may rise 28 percent to 12 million, a government official had said. China's vehicle sales rose 34 percent to 9.7 million in the first nine months of this year as U.S. sales fell 27 percent to 7.8 million.