A US decision to impose special duties on Chinese tyres could open the door to a host of trade complaints against Chinese products, creating tensions as Western nations seek Beijing's support at the G20 meeting. China responded swiftly to US President Barack Obama's announcement of safeguard duties on tyre imports from China, saying yesterday it would request World Trade Organisation consultations with the US over the duties.

It also announced its own anti-dumping investigations of chicken products from the US, a trade worth $800 million a year, as well as US automotive exports. Looming in the US are complaints ranging from electric blankets to a steelmaking ingredient, while Chinese and European trade negotiators are gearing up for a fight over shoes.

While the intensified sparring between the world's biggest economies could trigger a bout of nerves in financial markets, it is unlikely to spiral into a full-scale trade war. The countries have too much at stake, and need each other too much when it comes to problems like North Korea, to let the dispute spin out of control, said Jia Qingguo, expert on China-US relations at Peking University.

"Both sides will work hard to limit the fallout from this to within certain parameters and not let it affect the broader state of relations and cooperation," he said.

Yesterday, Chinese state media denounced Mr Obama's decision, which launches additional duties of 35 per cent on Chinese-made tyres from September 26, a day after the G20 summit of the world's biggest nations ends in Pittsburgh.

"Even though the duties the US imposed were lower than those recommended by the International Trade Commission, it is still a serious case of protectionism, which China resolutely opposes," China's vice minister of commerce, Zhong Shan, said.