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.
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。