Canada to maintain steel anti-dumping duties on China

OTTAWA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Canada will maintain anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled carbon steel plate from China on the grounds that cheap imports could harm Canadian firms, Ottawa said on Tuesday.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal - which first imposed the duties in 1997 and extended them in 2003 and again in 2008 - said it had acted after carrying out a review.

"The Tribunal found that the dumping of hot-rolled carbon steel plate from China was likely to result in injury. The Canada Border Services Agency will therefore continue to impose anti-dumping duties on these products," it said in a statement.

The tribunal is due to issue reasons for its decision on Jan. 23.

Major steel products in China are being sold below cost following a market slump that has lasted more than four months, China's steel industry association said last September.