The United States on Thursday slapped an additional 59.31% duty on imports of a key aluminum product from China, in another sign of trade friction between the world's two largest economies.

The Commerce Department said it set the preliminary anti-dumping duty to offset China's unfairly low pricing of the aluminum extrusions, which are used in cars, houses and a variety of manufactured goods.

It comes on top of preliminary U.S. countervailing duties announced in August to offset Chinese government subsidies. Those ranged from 6.18% to 137.65%. The decision provides additional import protection for a group of U.S. producers, including William L Bonnell, Hydro Aluminum North America, Kaiser Aluminum Corp and Sapa Extrusions, that brought the case.

It also is another victory for the United Steelworkers union, which helped pay for the case and has aggressively sought protection against many Chinese imports in recent years.

The United States imported more than $500 million in aluminum extrusions from China in 2009.

They are used in window and door frames and sills, gutters, and solar power frames. They are also used to make parts for cars, trucks and boats, in furniture and in a variety of other consumer and industrial goods.

The 59.31% covers all Chinese producers and exporters. Those specifically mentioned by the Commerce Department were the Guang Ya Group, New Zhongya, Xinya and the Zhaoqing Asia Aluminum Factory.