BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Wednesday it will impose temporary anti-dumping measures on optical fiber imported from the United States and European Union.

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The preliminary ruling requires importers of dispersion unshifted single-mode optical fiber, a material used in high-speed and long-distance telecom transmission, to place deposits starting February 18, said a statement on the MOC website.

The ministry has set deposit rates for the optical fiber imported from the US at 4.7 percent to 18.6 percent and for that from the EU at 17.7 percent to 29.1 percent.

The statement said companies from the US and EU had dumped dispersion unshifted single-mode optical fiber on the Chinese market, which had caused substantial damage to the domestic industry.

The MOC launched an anti-dumping probe into optical fiber products imported from the US and European Union on April 22, 2010.