BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Minister of
Commerce Chen Deming said Saturday the U.S. decision to impose special
protectionist tariffs on tire imports from China was grave trade protectionism
and sent a wrong signal to the world.
Chen
told Xinhua the U.S. government's decision, which was made Friday night,
violated related rules, failed to honor its commitment made on the G-20
financial summit and was not based on the truth.
"It was a misuse of the special safeguard measures
and sent a wrong signal to the world," Chen said, stressing China resolutely
opposes the U.S. decision.
The decision came after the U.S. International Trade
Commission determined that a surge of Chinese-made tires had disrupted the
domestic market and cost thousands of jobs in the U.S.
The two sides didn't reach an agreement in spite of
rounds of negotiations over the case, Chen said.
According to a Los Angeles Times report Saturday,
within 15 days, the U.S. would add a duty of 35 percent in the first year, 30
percent in the second and 25 percent in the third on passenger vehicle and
light-truck tires from China.
Chen said China reserves the right to bring the case
to the World Trade Organization (WTO) while continuing to take necessary
measures to support the tire industry and deal with the negative impact caused
by the case.
Fan Rende, president of the China Rubber Industry
Association, said the organization has sent a protest letter to U.S. President
Barack Obama, calling the decision an "extremely unfair" one as it lacked
objective bases.
The association also recommended the Chinese
government to resort to the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism to handle the case,
and appeal to the United States Court of International Trade to protect
interests of the related enterprises.
Although President Obama's ruling on the tire case
was said to be based on law by the U.S. government, it is seen as a resolution
under political pressure at home.
Yao Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, said
the domestic political pressure pressed the U.S. government to not only impose
the tariff and also propose other unreasonable demands involving many industries
and push China to adjust fiscal and tax policies.
The U.S. decision was made regardless of opposition
from many U.S. organizations.
The U.S. Tire Industry Association, the American
Coalition for Free Trade in Tires, the American Automotive Trade Policy Council,
and the Retail Industry Leaders Association have all expressed strong opposition
after the U.S. International Trade Commission recommended the decision to the
U.S. government .
NO GOOD TO
ANYONE
The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on its web site
Saturday that the U.S. lacked bases for the case because tire products exported
to the U.S. from China actually declined 16 percent in the first half of this
year, compared to the same period last year. China's tire exports to U.S. in
2008 only rose 2.2 percent from 2007.
It said the business situation of the U.S. tire
producers has shown no apparent changes after the entry of Chinese products.
There exists no direct competition between China's tire products and the
U.S.-made ones as China's tires mainly go for the U.S. maintenance market.
Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying said in August that
the slowdown in the U.S. tire industry is a result of the global downturn, not
that of China's increasing tire exports to the U.S.
China's tire exports to the U.S. tripled between 2004
and 2007 while, during the same period, U.S. tire manufactures doubled profits.
"This means the increase of China's tire exports did
not cause any substantial harm to the U.S. tire industry," Fu said.
According to Fan, about 40 percent of the tire output
in China is exported, and one third of the exports go to the United States.
The 35 percent tariff means China would not export
tires to the U.S. in the first year, which would affect employment of about
100,000 people and result in a loss of 1 billion U.S. dollars in export, he
said.
He added the tariff would not solve problems faced by
the U.S. tire industry, but would hurt interests of enterprises from both
countries and hurt trade relationships.
Four U.S. companies have businesses in tire
production in China and they account for two thirds of exports to the U.S., and
the tariffs will have a direct impact on these companies, the MOC said.
The increased tariffs would also raise tire prices
for U.S. consumers, which would further weaken the government efforts to
revitalize the auto industry. Some consumers may even consider postponing
replacing old tires, creating concern for safety, according to the MOC.
The move will also produce a chain reaction of trade
protectionism and slow the current revival of the world economy, the ministry
said in a statement on its website Saturday.
Leaders from around the globe have reached consensus
to oppose trade protectionism since the outbreak of the financial crisis. But
the tire case, lacking factual bases, is an abuse of protectionist measures. It
not only hurts the interests of China, but also those of the U.S., the ministry
said.
The Associated Press (AP) reported Saturday many of
the nearly two dozen world leaders Obama is hosting at the upcoming G20 summit
in Pittsburgh are critical of countries that protect their key industries.
The report said Obama has also spoken out strongly
against protectionism and other countries will view his decision on tires as a
test of that stance.
According to the MOC, China is the second-largest
trading partner with the U.S. and vice versa. China believes the Sino-U.S.
economic trade cooperation is significant. The country would not like to see
damages to bilateral trade relations caused by protectionism.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao slashed protectionism at
the opening ceremony of the Summer Davos Forum Thursday in Dalian, northeast
China, saying it would only slow world economic recovery and ultimately hurt the
interests of the businesses and people of all countries.
"We must resist and redress all forms of covert
protectionist activities," Wen said, noting as an active participant in economic
globalization, China will never engage in trade or investment protectionism.
