China has made a preliminary decision to slap anti-dumping duties on low-priced nylon imports from the U.S., the EU, Russia and Taiwan, hitting the U.S., the country's second-largest trading partner, with the highest duties of as much as 36.2%.

The imports have damaged the domestic industry, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. The tariffs will affect firms including BASF Corp., under German chemical giant BASF SE (BASFY), and Honeywell Resins & Chemical LLC, of Honeywell International Inc. (HON), it said.

The move is the latest in a series of Sino-U.S. trade spats in recent months, amid rising protectionism as economies begin to recover from the global financial crisis. It comes a week before senior leaders of China and the U.S. meet at the Joint Commission of Commerce and Trade, or JCCT, next week in Hangzhou, China.

The nylon anti-dumping ruling is preliminary. Duties on products of companies named in the decision from the EU, Russia and Taiwan will be between 9.7% and 4%. The levy will be 23.9% for all companies in those markets that weren't named in the decision, the ministry said.

The ministry will levy a 30.4% tariff on products of BASF Corp., and 36.2% on those of Honeywell Resins & Chemical and other companies in the U.S.

Specifically, the ruling affects imports of Nylon 6, or polycaprolactam, which is used to manufacture a variety of products, ranging from toothbrushes to gun frames to chiffon.

Low-priced nylon imports have harmed six industries in China, the ministry said in its statement, as volumes of imports have increased while prices have gone down.

Starting Tuesday, China will require importers to pay deposits on Nylon-6 imports from foreign companies judged to be selling the material in China for less than a fair price.

China formally started investigating the Nylon 6 imports in late April. The ruling on nylon imports is the latest development in an apparent trade scuffle that began in September when the Obama administration decided to impose 35% import duties on Chinese tires. China issued a statement within days, singling out U.S. automotive and poultry product imports for investigation.

-By Patricia Jiayi Ho and Victoria Ruan, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 6588 5848; patricia.ho@dowjones.com