U.S. International Trade Commission has announced hefty tariffs on certain large residential washing machines made in China.

The ITC has been accusing Chinese manufacturers of dumping washing machines into the U.S. market at artificially low prices.

As such, they are now being hit with punitive duties ranging from 32 to 52 percent.

Chinese companies exported some 1.1 billion US dollars’ worth of large residential washing machines to the U.S. in 2015.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has since responded, saying the U.S. side should be moving to avoid trade protectionism.