GENEVA (Reuters) - Canada filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday to challenge Chinese anti-dumping duties on dissolving pulp, a cellulosic material used to produce rayon.
Canada says China broke WTO rules when it imposed duties in November 2013 and April 2014, the WTO said in a statement.
Shannon Gutoskie, spokeswoman for Canada's Minister of International Trade Ed Fast, said the measures were "unfounded and discriminatory" and disadvantaged Canadian exporters.
China is Canada's top foreign market for dissolving pulp, importing more than $300 million in each of the past three years, according to a global trade database maintained by the International Trade Center, a U.N.-WTO joint venture.
Almost half of Canada's 750,000 tonne production of the material went to China last year.
If the issue is not resolved within 60 days, Canada could escalate the dispute by asking the WTO to adjudicate.
(Reporting by Tom Miles; Additional reporting by Randall Palmer in Ottawa; Editing by Louise Ireland)