NBC News — China wednesday said that trade protectionism would hurt bilateral cooperation and the interests of the United States. The comments come after the U.S. government pressed forward with plans to impose steep punitive duties on wind turbine towers imported from China.

The U.S. Commerce Department set anti-dumping duties on utility-scale towers manufactured in China to combat Chinese government subsidies. The action was the latest clash between the two countries over U.S. imports of green technology from China.