Vice trade minister Osamu Watanabe expressed deep regret Thursday about the latest dumping charge filed by U.S. steelmakers against Japanese imports.
Watanabe said Tokyo will closely study whether Washington handles the charge that seamless pipe imports were dumped on the U.S. market in accordance with legal procedure.
Noting that the majority of all major steel items for export to the U.S. are subject to dumping charges, he repeated the ministry's position that the antidumping procedures themselves may threaten sound trade practices.