| Trade crisis as China raps US inquiry slew |
SHANGHAI, Aug. 24 -- FREQUENT United States trade investigations into Chinese products violate rules of the World Trade Organization and may upset bilateral ties, senior government officials said in Beijing yesterday.
Their comments during a news conference held by the State Council Information Office come at a time of intensifying Sino-US trade disputes.
Gao Hucheng, vice commerce minister, said the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations undertaken by the US will lead to double taxation, which was prohibited by the WTO.
The impact of the inquiries on China-US trade links is "profound," Gao said.
There have been five combined anti-dumping and countervailing investigations launched since November into Chinese products such as glossy paper and off-road tires.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, a total of 869 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases have been launched against China since 1979, including 136 raised by the US.
As the US does not treat China as a market economy, the use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures infringed American rules, Gao said.
Moreover, the US included loans from Chinese commercial banks as government subsidies, showing how little the US knows about Chinese commercial banks, he added.
"Such a high frequency of investigations has rarely been seen in the history of modern trade and it runs counter to the general global trend, where there is a decreasing number of cases," Gao said.
Gao said these trade inquiries into Chinese exports have cost the country US$860 million in overseas sales and left 70,000 people jobless at more than 500 companies.
He also called into question some overseas media reports regarding the safety of Chinese goods, ranging from toys to seafood.
Earlier this month, Mattel Inc recalled almost 19 million Chinese-made items, including dolls, cars and action figures. Some were reportedly contaminated with lead paint, while others had small magnets that children might swallow.
Gao said the recalled products were pulled off the shelves because of a revision of international standards in May involving magnets.
"The US dealer voluntarily recalled the toys that were made and sold before 2007, which at the time conformed to standards. This is a very responsible action for the health of children and consumers," he said.
"But strictly speaking, it has nothing to do with the toys' quality or its manufacturers," Gao said.
He said Mattel was partly responsible because it did not conduct "strict examinations" when it received toy shipments. But, he said, China was taking the quality issue seriously.
"Even if there is only one percent of products that have quality problems, we will seek to establish the facts and take them very seriously and investigate and punish those companies involved," Gao said.
China exported US$7 billion worth of toys last year, accounting for 45 percent of the global figure. Of this, US$3.2 billion worth of products were sold to the American market.
In the first seven months of this year, toys exports to the US were valued at US$1.7 billion, making up 41 percent of the country's total overseas sales of toys.
Wang Chao, assistant commerce minister, said it's only natural that trade "frictions arise as Sino-US trade volume increases and economic ties become closer."
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