(BRUSSELS) - EU countries voted on Wednesday to slap import duties on Chinese-made screws and bolts in one of the biggest anti-dumping cases against the emerging economic giant, diplomats said.

The anti-dumping levies are to run for five years once the decision is officially published and can run as high as 87 percent.

Diplomats said the motion was passed by only a slim margin, reflecting deep divisions among EU member states about how to deal with booming Chinese imports to Europe.

One diplomat said the duties were approved by 14 EU countries and were rejected by 12 others with one abstention.

"It's a big case in terms of economic interests, there's been a lot of lobbying from all sides, from importers, from the Chinese as well," another diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

China is the largest producer of screws, bolts and washers in the world and the European Union is the biggest market, taking 575 million euros worth of fasteners in 2007, according to the Jiaxing Association of Chinese fastener producers.

The duties risk fuelling tensions with China after a series of recent anti-dumping decisions against China while further cases are pending on steel imports.

"We'll put this decision on the pile of previous decisions and see how they react one day," said the first diplomat, who asked not to be named.

China scrapped a summit with the European Union scheduled to take place on Monday in France in protest at plans by EU leaders to meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

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