By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The United States has slapped preliminary anti-dumping duties ranging up to 99 percent on Chinese-made oil well pipe in the biggest U.S. trade action against China, a union group said on Thursday.
The preliminary Commerce Department decision came just one week before President Barack Obama heads to Asia on a trip that includes stops in Shanghai and Beijing.
It follows Obama's own decision in September to put a 35 percent duty on Chinese-made tires in response to a petition from the United Steelworkers union.
Obama is expected to stress the need for the United States and China to work together to revive global economic growth and to avoid protectionism that could endanger recovery.
The Steelworkers, who campaigned hard for Obama during last year's presidential race and are a key ally in his fight to win approval of comprehensive healthcare reform in Congress, were also a driving force in the oil well pipe case.
Since taking office in January, the Obama administration has initiated at least one dozen anti-dumping or countervailing duty investigations against products from China in response to petitions filed by industry and union groups.
The U.S. International Trade Commission will vote on Friday whether to approve three more probes covering coated paper, certain standard steel fasteners and sodium and potassium phosphate salts from China.
In a statement on Thursday, the Steelworkers said the Commerce Department had set preliminary anti-dumping duties ranging from 36.53 percent to 99.14 percent on certain "oil country tubular goods" (OCTG) from China.
"China's government and exporters are being told we are fed up with their cheating on our fair trade laws and penalties for these transgressions are long overdue," Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said in the statement.
As petitioners in the case, the union was informed of the Commerce Department's determination.

Maverick Tube Corp, United States Steel Corp, TMK IPSCO, V&M Star LLP, Wheatland Tube Corp, and Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel joined the Steelworkers in April in asking the Commerce Department for the import curbs.
U.S. companies imported $2.63 billion of oil country tubular goods from China in 2008, more than three times the $750 million they imported in 2007.
That makes it the largest U.S. trade action against China, topping Obama's decision to slap a 35 percent tariff on about $1.85 billion of Chinese-made tires.
The Commerce Department is expect to officially announce the preliminary duties later on Thursday.
They reflect the department's determination of how far below "fair market value" Chinese companies are selling steel pipe and tubing product in the United States.
They are in addition to preliminary countervailing duties of 10.69 percent to 30.69 percent the Commerce Department announced in September to offset Chinese government subsidies to encourage production of the steel goods.
The Commerce Department decided one of China's largest OCTG exporter, Jiangsu Changbao Steel Co, was not guilty of dumping in the United States, the Steelworkers said.
However, that same company was hit in September with a 24.33 percent countervailing duty rate.
"We question why Changbao was singled out as if they were the only one among 75 other pipe exporters who were considered not in violation. We plan to challenge this finding as the case proceeds in our government's investigation," Gerard said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Mohammad Zargham) Keywords: USA CHINA/TRADE (doug.palmer@thomsonreuters.com; +1 202 898 8341; Reuters Messaging: doug.palmer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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