A WORLD Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel upheld most parts of a complaint against China on Friday in a case brought by Japan and the European Union challenging Chinese anti-dumping duties on high performance seamless stainless steel tubes.

    Japan brought the complaint in December 2012 to object to China hampering firms such as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. from selling the tubes, which are used in coal-fired power plants.

    The European Union, home to exporters such as Tubacex S.A in Spain and Salzgitter A.G in Germany, joined the case against China in June 2013.

    WTO rules allow countries to apply anti-dumping duties against unfairly priced imports, but there are strict conditions about applying the rules and calculating whether the goods are actually being dumped.

    China, which could appeal against the ruling, said it had several objections to the findings but did not immediately say what it would do next. “We will earnestly assess the report and consider possible future steps,” the commerce ministry said in a statement Saturday.(SD-Agencies)