Washington (Platts)--20Aug2012/137 pm EDT/1737 GMT

In the latest salvo of a brewing trade war between China and the US over clean-energy manufacturing, China's Ministry of Commerce on Monday said six renewable-energy projects in the US are illegally subsidized and violate World Trade Organization rules.

In an announcement on its website, the ministry said the US' support for those six projects in five states are "distorting normal international trade" under the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The projects involve a solar-power rebate program in Massachusetts and wind-power manufacturing incentives in Ohio. The ministry also cited renewable energy projects in California, New Jersey and Washington state, without identifying them.

The ministry urged the US to cancel its subsidies for the projects but did not say in its announcement whether it would seek WTO arbitration over the matter.

The Office of the US Trade Representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US and China have accused each other over the past year of illegally subsidizing their respective clean-energy industries.

The US has imposed tariffs and duties on imports of Chinese-made solar products for allegedly dumping them at "below-market" costs.

The US has also imposed tariffs on Chinese-made wind turbines and has, along with Japan and the EU, requested WTO arbitration over China's export quotas on rare-earth metals, which are vital components in several clean-energy applications.

In each case, China has said it is following WTO regulations and has warned that any "restrictive measures" against its products would hurt the US' economy.

--Herman Wang, herman_wang@platts.com --Edited by Carla Bass, carla_bass@platts.com

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