BEIJING -- An initial ruling by China's Ministry of Commerce said Monday that European Union (EU) members have subsidized potato starch exports to China, hurting the interests of China's domestic industries.

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China will impose an anti-subsidy provision of the tariff on potato starch products effective from May 19, the ministry said in a statement on its website. The rate will range between 7.7 percent and 11.19 percent, depending on the subsidy margin, according to the statement.

The initial ruling accused several EU companies, including France's Roquette Freres and Netherland's AVEBE, of receiving subsidies.

China launched an anti-subsidy investigation into potato starch imports from the EU on August 30, 2010 at the request of the China Starch Industry Association. This was China's first-ever anti-subsidy probe into imports from the EU.

China had earlier decided to impose anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 12.6 percent to 56.7 percent on EU potato starch products. The new tariffs were effective from April 19.