The United States has said it set preliminary duties ranging from 2 percent to 438 percent on hundreds of millions of dollars of imported steel wire decking from China to offset government subsidies.

It was the latest in a growing list of actions against imports from China, the US’s second-largest trading partner.

There were five new complaints filed against China in September, a record for a single month.

Since January, the US Commerce Department has launched at least one dozen investigations into charges Chinese companies receive government subsidies that allow them to sell more cheaply than US competitors or “dump” goods in the US at low prices. (Shanghai Daily)

I don’t know the facts of the steel wire case, so no comment on the merits of that one. However, five new complaints in September . . . it really does make it difficult to claim that the government is not engaging in protectionism.

Obviously the number of complaints tend to go up dramatically during a recession, but when the government demonstrates that it is quite receptive to those filings, then the flood gates open. I believe that the decision in the tire case really sent a signal to U.S. industry and labor, and now we’re seeing the results.

I don’t think this is going to end well.