An American industry group has charged that manufacturers in China are evading millions of US dollars of US anti-dumping duties on steel wire products by exporting them via third countries. The US Coalition for Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders said it had developed “compelling evidence how certain foreign manufacturers (in China) are evading duties.” The coalition named the “third countries” as Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada and Mexico. The Hong Kong and Taiwan economies were also accused of being used by the Chinese based manufacturers to send the products to the US in an apparent bid to evade duties. The coalition, comprising six companies manufacturing steel wire products, said it had informed the US government and lawmakers on the problem. US duties slapped on Chinese steel products for alleged dumping or “unfair” subsidies have been part of increasing trade tensions between the US and China. In the latest high profile case in December, US authorities decided to impose countervailing duties of up to nearly 16% on imported steel pipes from China valued at 2.6 billion US dollars in 2008.