CHINA filed a World Trade Organization (WTO) case late Monday challenging U.S. anti-dumping measures on billions of dollars of kitchen appliances, paper and other goods, adding to worsening trade strains as global demand weakens.

China’s move came shortly before the Obama administration filed its own WTO case accusing China of improperly subsidizing exports of automobiles and auto parts.

China and the United States have clashed over complaints about market barriers and subsidies for goods including autos, solar panels, steel and chicken. Pressures on both sides are worsening as demand for their goods cools, raising the threat of job losses in export industries.

As campaigning for the U.S. presidency intensifies ahead of the Nov. 6 vote, U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney have traded barbs on China, accusing each other of backing policies that would move American jobs overseas.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said its latest WTO complaint centers on the U.S. Congress’s passage of a law this year that retroactively gave the Commerce Department power to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods. That came after a U.S. court reversed earlier duties imposed under rules covering countries such as China and Vietnam that are deemed to be “non-market economies.”

“This practice puts Chinese enterprises in an uncertain legal environment, in violation of the relevant rules of the WTO transparency and due process,” ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said in a statement.(SD-Agencies)