China initiates anti-dumping investigation

China's Commerce Ministry said on Saturday it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of chemical intermediate p-nitrotoluene from the European Union. P-nitrotoluene, also known as para-nitrotoluene, is used in the production of dyes, pharmaceuticals and pesticides. China is a major producer and exporter of p-nitrotoluene. The ministry said the probe was initiated after a complaint from China's domestic industry. Preliminary evidence showed the prices of EU imports fell nearly 60% cumulatively between 2022 and 2025, it said. The investigation comes amid growing trade tensions between China and the European Union, which have increasingly resorted to anti-dumping and other trade defence measures targeting each other's products.