China will impose anti-subsidy duties of between 10 percent and 10.7 percent on imports of U.S. animal feed ingredient known as distillers' dried grains (DDGS), the Commerce Ministry said in a preliminary ruling on Wednesday.

The move was widely expected after the government announced a similar move on anti-dumping duties last week.

As with last week's ruling, the decision affects some of the biggest players in the U.S. ethanol industry, including global traders Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) and Louis Dreyfus [AKIRAU.UL], along with Poet LLC, oil refiner and ethanol producer Valero Energy Corp and grains group Andersons Inc.

The U.S. ethanol industry said it was disappointed by the preliminary ruling that U.S. DDGS, a byproduct of corn-based ethanol, are unfairly subsidized and harming Chinese producers.

"U.S. DDGS have not caused any injury to China's DDGS producers. This announcement is not a surprise given (the Commerce Ministry's) treatment of the U.S. DDGS industry last week," said a joint statement from a trio of U.S. trade associations, including two biofuels groups and the U.S. Grains Council.

"U.S. DDGS play an important role in protecting Chinese feed producers and households against unpredictable swings in global commodity prices," the statement said.