By Colleen Howe

BEIJING (Reuters) -China on Sunday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9% on imports of POM copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from the United States, the European Union, Japan and Taiwan.

The commerce ministry's findings conclude a probe launched in May 2024, shortly after the U.S. sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports.

POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc and have various applications including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the ministry has said.

In January the ministry said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary anti-dumping measures in the form of a deposit starting from January 24.

   According to Sunday's announcement, the highest anti-dumping rates of 74.9% were levied on imports from the United States, while European shipments will face 34.5% duties.

   China slapped 35.5% duties on Japanese imports, except for Asahi Kasei Corp, which received a company-specific rate of 24.5%.

   General duties of 32.6% were placed on imports from Taiwan, while Formosa Plastics received a 4% tariff and Polyplastics Taiwan 3.8%.

Hopes have risen that the U.S.-China trade war is easing after the two sides said on Monday they had agreed to slash reciprocal tariffs in a 90-day truce, a deal that state mouthpiece the Global Times said on Friday should be extended.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group of nations warned of "fundamental challenges" facing the global trading system in a communique on Friday after a meeting in South Korea.

(Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and William Mallard)