China launches anti-dumping probes into 9 more companies - Nikkei Asian Review

As reported by the Nikkei Asian Review, China's Ministry of Commerce is starting a formal investigation into claims by the Beijing Jingdiao Group and two other Chinese toolmaking companies, who allege that five Japanese companies and four Taiwanese factory plants have been unfairly dumping precision machinery and high-precision manufacturing machinery within China's borders.

Key quotes

"The move is likely aimed at protecting domestic competitors, whose earnings have been sapped by the U.S.-China trade war. Precision machine tools are considered a core field under the Made in China 2025 initiative, a program led by President Xi Jinping to modernize the country's industry.

The three Chinese machine tool makers that called for the probe not only sell their products domestically but also export them from plants in the U.S. There are suspicions that the trio requested the investigation because of pressure to increase sales at home now that machine tools are subject to tariffs in both markets because of the trade war."