China to levy an anti-subsidy duty on EU potato starch

China said Monday it would levy anti-subsidy duties of up to 11.19 percent on imports of EU potato starch, in apparent retaliation over Brussels' decision to slap taxes on Chinese fine art paper.

The commerce ministry said in a statement that importers of potato starch will have to pay a deposit from Thursday based on the alleged European Union subsidy rates of 7.7 to 11.19 percent of the import price.

French starch producer Roquette and AVEBE of the Netherlands are among the companies affected by the decision, the statement said.

The taxes are to be imposed on top of anti-dumping duties of 12.6 to 56.7 percent which the ministry started to levy from last month. On Saturday, the European Commission announced its final ruling to impose countervailing tariffs, ranging from four to 12 percent, and anti-dumping duties of eight to 35.1 percent on Chinese coated fine paper.