The Obama administration imposed duties on $135 million of steel pipe from China after companies led by U.S. Steel Corp. complained of unfair subsidies and dumping.

The duties will be as much as 98.74 percent on the pipes, which are used to transport water, natural gas and steam in plumbing and heating systems, the U.S. Commerce Department said today in an e-mailed statement.

China, which had a $227 billion trade surplus with the U.S. in 2009, has been the subject of more complaints filed over unfair trade than any other nation, according to data compiled by the World Bank.

U.S. Steel, based in Pittsburgh, was joined in a petition seeking duties by the U.S. subsidiary of France’s Vallourec SA, the world’s second-largest maker of steel tubes for oil and gas production, and the United Steelworkers union.