Last Friday evening in Washington, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would levy tariffs of up to 35 percent on tires from China.

On Monday, the Chinese government filed a formal complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over steep U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese-made tires. This is in addition to the announcement made Sunday night that China would take the first steps toward imposing tariffs on American exports of automotive products and chicken meat.

"China put forward a formal request for consultations with the U.S. under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism on the U.S. special safeguard measures against Chinese tires," the Chinese mission to the Geneva-based body said in a statement.

"China believes that the above-mentioned measure by the U.S., which runs counter to relevant WTO rules, is a wrong practice abusing trade remedies.  ... China's request with the U.S. for consultations is based on the normal practice of WTO members under the dispute settlement mechanism and concrete action by China to protect its own interests," the statement continued.

The Chinese mission also expressed hope that "all sides will understand its determination to firmly fight against trade protectionism so as to commonly safeguard the multilateral trading system by respecting WTO rules."