WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department Tuesday slapped steep anti-dumping duties on a chemical imported from China that is used in teeth whitening products.
 
The department set a duty of 92 percent on imports of sodium hexametaphosphate, or SHMP, from Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group Co. and Mianyang Aostar Phosphorous Chemical Industry Co. and 188 percent from other Chinese suppliers.

The chemical is used in personal and dental care products and to enhance food flavor and shelf life.

U.S. imports of SHMP from China totaled $13.8 million in 2006, up from $10.3 million in 2004.

The move was the latest in a series of U.S. actions against Chinese goods that the Commerce Department says are being sold in the United States at unfairly low or subsidized prices.

"Unfair pricing negatively affects American manufacturers and therefore competitiveness," assistant secretary of Commerce for import administration David Spooner, said in a statement.

"The administration is committed to aggressively enforcing America's trade remedy laws in order to achieve strong and fair relationships with our trading partners," Spooner said.

Other recent Chinese products hit with U.S. duties include steep pipe, steel nails and woven sacks.

The SHMP duties are still subject to a final ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission that the low-priced imports have materially harmed -- or at least threaten to materially harm -- U.S. producers.

The panel will vote on that issue by mid-March.

The case was filed last year by ICL Performance Products of Missouri and Innophos Inc. of New Jersey. (Editing by Jackie Frank)