Lucy Hornby and Chris Buckley
Reuters
BEIJING: China denounced as protectionist new US anti-dumping duties on steel pipes and launched its own investigation into imports of US-made automobiles on Friday, a week before a visit by President Barack Obama. It also called for Washington’s swift recognition that China is a market economy, which would make it harder for the United States to declare that Chinese products are dumped.
The US on Thursday slapped some $2.63 billion preliminary anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made pipes used in the oil and gas industry, in the biggest US trade action against China to date. That follows countervailing duties on the pipes, announced in September.
“China resolutely opposes the abuse of protectionist measures,” China’s Commerce Ministry said on its website.
Obama will visit China for several days from November 15 and trade disputes are likely to feature prominently.
China’s investigation would target sedans with engine capacity of 2 liters and above, as well as sports utility vehicles, the Commerce Ministry said, issuing a long list of incentives and tax breaks granted by the US federal government and the state of Michigan.
“We hope that the US will set aside its biases and as quickly as possible recognize China’s market economic status, thoroughly overcoming its double standards and giving equal and fair treatment to Chinese firms,” it added.
In trade meetings with US officials last week in the city of Hangzhou, the Chinese side pressed for recognition as a market economy, before the 2016 deadline negotiated when it entered the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“We hope that the US will abide by the principles of free trade and non-discrimination in trade under WTO rules in handling this issue,” said Vice Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun.
“The US should give objective consideration to the fact that the fundamental problem of the concerned US industries is the fall in consumption demand brought on by the financial crisis, and thereby make a just, fair and reasonable final determination” on the steel-pipe duties, the ministry said.
Washington promised to set up a panel to consider the issue.
SUVs and other imported luxury cars have become more common on the streets of Beijing in the past year, while Chinese car-stimulus measures have helped boost domestic sales of the family cars made in China by Chinese and foreign manufacturers.
As long as China has no recognition as a market economy, trade partners can compare its products to those of other nations with different cost structures for labor or transport, when assessing whether products have been dumped.
Export-dependent Chinese industries are dominated by private firms, which cut margins to the bone by competing with each other both at home and for export markets. Entrepreneurs pile into any promising industry, creating overcapacity that destroys profits.
Pipes that can carry highly corrosive oil and natural gas presented a new opportunity for Chinese steel processors moving up the value chain. Exports to the US, their biggest market, tripled to $2.63 billion in 2008 compared with 2007.
“These duties have a big effect, and we no longer export to the US. The measure has been threatened for a while, and clients don’t dare order from Chinese producers any more,” said Zhang Kemin, of producer Changzhou Darun, which now targets the Ukrainian market.
Listen to the Article 
Printable Version 
Send to a friend 