China assails U.S. trade probe

Associated Press December 18, 2003

China assails U.S. trade probe
 It launches one of its own into imports of a chemical from America, 3 allies  (*hydrazine

SHANGHAI, China - China criticized yesterday a U.S. antidumping probe of its furniture exports and said it was launching its own investigation of imports from the United States and elsewhere of a chemical used in water treatment.
The moves by Beijing come amid a series of U.S. actions to restrict Chinese imports.

The U.S. investigation of Chinese furniture trade would "definitely exert a negative impact" on trade relations, the China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement on its Web site.

Antidumping probes are generally aimed at determining if a country is selling a product outside its borders at prices below the cost of making them in hopes of capturing market share.

Chong Quan, a Commerce Ministry spokesman, said the probe violates U.S. law and World Trade Organization rules. The investigation is the biggest antidumping probe ever conducted by Washington into Chinese imports and could affect trade worth $1 billion a year.

"It is hoped that the United States could face up to the simple fact of China's development of a market economy," Chong said in a statement.

The Chinese investigation will cover imports of the chemical hydrazine hydrate from the United States, Japan, South Korea and France, said the ministry Web site.

The ministry did not explain its decision to investigate imports of hydrazine hydrate, a colorless liquid used to make medicines, dyes, farm chemicals and other products.

Washington has angered Beijing by imposing quotas on
Chinese textiles and threatened antidumping duties on Chinese-made television sets.

On Monday, a U.S. trade panel urged President Bush to impose a quota on imports of
pipe fittings, with 50 percent tariffs levied on imports above that level. The panel ruled that rising imports of the pipe fittings were disrupting U.S. suppliers.

The United States bought about 25,000 tons of pipe fittings from China last year, and the tariff would have applied to about 11,000 tons of that.


December 13, 2003; Washington Post Foreign Service

China Assails U.S. For Launching Dumping Inquiry
Agency to Check Bedroom-Set Imports
By Peter S. Goodman

SHANGHAI, Dec. 12 -- China on Friday sharply criticized the Bush administration's decision to consider imposing protective tariffs on imports of Chinese
bedroom furniture, assailing the investigation as a new front in an escalating trade dispute between the two countries.

"We strongly protest the U.S.'s decision to proceed with the probe," said Chong Quan, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, in a written statement, asserting that the U.S. action breaks the rules of the World Trade Organization.

China's admonition came in reaction to the U.S. Commerce Department's decision to open an investigation into the sales of about $1 billion worth of Chinese bedroom sets in the United States, following complaints from American producers that these goods are being sold at below fair market prices -- a practice known as dumping. In petitions, U.S. furniture manufacturers have asserted that they have been unfairly harmed by a surge of such goods.

The furniture spat comes amid continuing signs that trade may intensify as a political issue in the months before next year's presidential election in the United States. On Friday, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit climbed in October to a record high of $41.8 billion while running at an annual rate of more than $490 billion -- far larger than last year's record trade deficit of $418 billion.

At the center of the tension sits China, whose trade surplus with the United States is expected to swell beyond $120 billion for the year. The Bush administration has put much of the blame for the loss of some 2.8 million American manufacturing jobs on China.

Beijing argues that it is being unfairly accused, noting that its trade with the rest of the world is largely balanced. It has in recent weeks announced a series of high-profile purchases of American goods, including airplanes and agricultural products, in a bid to trim its trade surplus with the United States.

The Commerce Department's decision to investigate bedroom-set imports came only hours after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao wrapped up his first visit to the United States. Wen has sought to undercut notions that China's economic ascendance constitutes a threat to the United States, portraying it instead as an enormous opportunity -- the addition of a rapidly developing country of 1.3 billion people to the global marketplace. China and the United States formally agreed to establish a high-level team to try to iron out trade conflicts.

The trade battle took shape earlier this year as the Bush administration demanded that China allow its now-fixed currency, the yuan, to trade freely, asserting that cheap Chinese money gives its exports an unfair price advantage. That talk has mostly cooled after Beijing's rebuff of a series of high-level U.S. envoys. Since then, dumping complaints have emerged as the primary battleground.

Last month, the Commerce Department imposed
protective tariffs against about $450 million of Chinese textiles and garments, then announced provisional protections against Chinese-made televisions. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman called the bedroom furniture probe "the biggest anti-dumping case China has faced so far."

Bush administration officials have argued that China subsidizes the production of low-cost products to keep its workers employed, resulting in a glut of low-priced Chinese goods reaching American shelves. But some trade experts argue that the process by which dumping claims are investigated is unfairly tilted toward domestic producers. In this case, the Chinese manufacturers must now persuade the Commerce Department that they are not dumping or face protective measures. Critics say Commerce is hardly an impartial judge, asserting that the process is guided less by the merits than by political expedience.

"The global anti-dumping regime is a concoction of protectionists, and generally charges of dumping are bogus," said Scott Kennedy, a professor of political science at Indiana University in Bloomington who specializes in trade politics. He said the basic problem is the overly broad definition of dumping -- selling overseas at a lower price than in one's home market, something he said a company could do for many reasons, such as seeking to gain market share.

Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans defended the dumping regime during an interview this fall.

"It is a very effective law for us to have as we try to have a level playing field for the benefit of Americans," Evans said.


「人民網日本語版」20031213

米政府、中国の木製寝室家具の反ダンピング調査へ

米国商務省は
11日、一部国内家具メーカーからの申請を受け、中国から輸入される木製寝室家具に対する反ダンピング調査の開始を決定した。商務部の崇泉スポークスマンは12日、同決定について談話を発表した。

崇スポークスマンは、「訴えが認められた場合、中国からの輸出は約
10億ドルに影響が出る見通し」と述べ、同案件に強く注目する中国政府の立場を表明。さらに「中国が直面した中で最大の反ダンピング案件となる。中米両国の通常の貿易にもマイナスの影響が出るだろう。米側が誤った方法を変え、中米の経済貿易の正常な発展を守るよう希望する」と強調した。


Morgan Stanley ウィークリー・インターナショナル・ブリーフィング  12.08.2003  
  http://www.morganstanley.co.jp/securities/jef/wib/031208/doc03.html

米国による中国製繊維製品に対する輸入制限 

米国の繊維業界はこの7月、中国製のニット生地、ブラジャー、バスローブの繊維製品3品目に対する一時的な輸入制限措置を改めて求める要求を政府に出した。これらの品目に対する輸入制限は、2005年1月1日までに約3,800品目の繊維・アパレル製品に対する輸入割当撤廃を求めるWTOの繊維・衣料に関する合意に基づき、2002年初頭に廃止されていた。鉄鋼セーフガードとは異なり、これら繊維製品に対する輸入割当は適法である。11月半ば、こうした業界の要求に対して、米商務省は、前述の一部の中国製繊維製品について、以前のように輸入数量を制限し輸入増加量を前年比7.5%に抑える内容の輸入制限措置を発表した。この輸入制限は3ヵ月以内に発効され、少なくとも1年間は継続される。再度適用されることもありうる。中国当局は、この米商務省の発表から数日後に、米国が鉄鋼関税を撤廃しなければ米国からの一部の輸入品目に対する関税を引き上げる用意があると示唆したが、詳細については発表されていない。

貿易へのインパクト:極めて小幅 輸入制限の対象となる中国製繊維製品の対米輸出は激増しているが、それは中国にとっては高額な輸出品目ではなく、年初以降9ヵ月間の輸出額は僅か$533mnに過ぎない。米国の今回の輸入制限措置が影響を及ぼしても、それは中国の対米繊維輸出全体の5%にも満たないだろう。


中国情勢 2003/11/25

中国TVメーカー、米ダンピング訴訟で仮敗訴
  
http://news.searchina.ne.jp/2003/1125/general_1125_001.shtml

  『中新網』25日付報道によると、中国製カラーテレビに対する米国ダンピング訴訟の件で、米国商務省は24日、アンチダンピング課税を27.94%から45.87%に定めるとする仮判決を下したことが明らかになった。

  米商務部によれば、最終判決は来年4月12日に下される。商務部が最終決定までに今回の仮判決を撤回せず、さらに米国国際貿易委員会(ITC)が主張する中国製品による米国製カラーテレビへの損害が認められれば、中国メーカーの敗訴が確定する。

  各メーカーへのダンピング課税率は、長虹(チャンホン)に45.87%、TCLに31.5%、康佳(コンカ)に27.9%となっている。米国メーカー側は84%の課税を要求していた。
 


「人民網日本語版」2003年7月24日

中国製テレビ4社にダンピング特別調査 米商務省

  「中華工商時報」によると、北京時間22日夜、中国製カラーテレビに対するダンピング調査を担当する米国商務省が重要文書を提出、長虹、厦華、TCL、康佳の4社を特別調査対象とすることを通知した。慣例により、中国企業が敗訴し反ダンピング税を課せられる場合、特別調査対象となった企業は他社と異なる税率をそれぞれ課せられることになる。具体的な税率に関しては米側の調査結果を待たなければならない。米商務省はこの4社に人員を派遣し現地調査を行い、今年10月9日に中国企業のダンピング幅に対する仮決定が下される。