BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua) -- China's anti-dumping measures on U.S. sorghum will not have a great impact on China, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

The MOC announced Tuesday that it will impose provisional anti-dumping measures on grain sorghum imported from the United States.

A preliminary ruling by the MOC found that U.S. companies had dumped grain sorghum on the Chinese market, and such imports had caused substantial damage to the domestic industry.

Starting on Wednesday, importers of the product are required to pay deposits with Chinese customs based on a rate of 178.6 percent calculation, according to the ministry.

The higher tariff on U.S. sorghum will generally not impact domestic consumption, Gao Feng, the MOC spokesman said, citing that China is a major grain producer with steady output in recent years.

China is prepared for the possible impact of these measures, Gao added.

China's total grain imports from the United States, including wheat and corn, account for less than 2 percent of domestic consumption, according to the MOC data.