The finance ministry said in a statement that it and the economic affairs ministry “have preliminarily determined that there is dumping (of these products) and it has caused substantial damage to domestic industry”.

The ministry said the duties will be imposed for four months to “prevent our industry from continuing to suffer damage during the investigation”.

The levies on Chinese-made beer will range from 13.13% to 64.14% while for steel, they will be either 16.9% or 20.15%, it added.

In March, Taiwan launched anti-dumping probes into Chinese-made beer and some steel products following complaints of unfair competition.

Tensions are already high between the two sides, with Beijing claiming the self-ruled island as part of its territory and threatening to use force to bring it under its control.

Taiwan currently has anti-dumping duties on 10 products, including eight from China, which is its largest trade partner, official data show.

China was the biggest source of beer imports to Taiwan last year, Bloomberg News reported, with shipments topping US$125 million last year.

Taiwan was also looking at whether low prices of certain Chinese hot-rolled steel products resulting from “long-standing overcapacity” in manufacturing were harming domestic players, according to the ministry.