China's Ministry of Commerce said that it had started imposing anti-dumping duty on certain steel imports from the European Union, Japan and South Korea.

The ministry announced via its website on Sunday that imported grain-oriented steel, which is utilized in power transformers and electric motors will carry a duty ranging between 37.3 percent and 46.3 percent for the next five years, according to Business Standard.

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The move comes as part of China's bid to prevent the dumping of steel after an investigation found that the Chinese economy was taking a hit as European countries violated international trade agreements and over flooded world markets with steel and aluminum.

On Friday, Premier Li Keqiang told leaders from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other organizations that China will not participate in a trade or currency war with other countries.

However, the EU still feels that it is being targeted. The EU Comission head Jean-Claude Juncker recently said that the union would do everything in its power to protect the group's steel industry from China.

He added that were was an obvious connection between the steel overcapacity issue and the EU's pending decision on whether or not to grant China "market economy status," which Beijing has been lobbying for.

Last year, the EU levied similar tariffs on the import of Chinese oriented electric steel among products from other countries in an attempt to reduce competition for European steel companies, according to Forbes.

The imposition of duty prompted China to launch a probe into imports coming from European firms.

Tagschina, EU, Japan, South Korea, steel overcapacity, steel duties, steel duty, anti-dumping duty, steel