The trade war between the United States and China may escalate
At the press conference of the fifth session of the 11th National People’s Congress held yesterday, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said that the Chinese central government does not have prohibited subsidies. “If there are some subsidies somewhere, we are willing to discuss them.”
The U.S. Senate voted on the 5th to pass a bill to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose countervailing duties on so-called “non-market economy countries” such as China and Vietnam. It is reported that as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers urged the U.S. Senate to make a decision as soon as possible, the senators passed the above bill by a voice vote. However, if this bill takes effect, it still needs to be voted by the House of Representatives and signed by US President Obama.
Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with a reporter from Nanfang Daily that judging from the historical process of the United States imposing countervailing duties on so-called “non-market economy countries” such as China, it is very likely that this bill will be passed. Because the imposition of countervailing duties on so-called “non-market economy countries” such as China is the result of long-term development. At the same time, this is an election year, and politicians need to work hard, which will also increase the chance of passing the House of Representatives.
Chen Deming pointed out that regarding the issue of subsidies, WTO rules divide subsidies into prohibited subsidies and actionable subsidies. This is a very broad concept. Most WTO members have subsidies of various natures. Everyone The understanding of subsidies also has different meanings. For example, after the economic crisis, many countries, especially the United States, subsidized some government funds to enterprises. China has not criticized these phenomena and launched large-scale so-called countervailing actions.
However, Mei Xinyu reminded that if this bill takes effect, it will have a greater impact on Chinese goods exports to the United States, especially the export of technology and capital-intensive industries. “Judging from the past practices of the United States, they regard many of my country’s industrial development policies in these fields as subsidy measures and criticize them.”
Mei Xinyu said that if this bill is passed by the House of Representatives, it will definitely intensify the trade conflict between China and the United States. He suggested that Chinese companies should first be prepared to respond to lawsuits.
■News background
●In 2004 and 2005, Canada imposed temporary countervailing duties on some Chinese goods, which was the first time a foreign country had implemented countervailing measures against Chinese goods; the U.S. House of Representatives also passed the U.S. Trade Rights Enforcement Act on July 27, 2005, which imposed Products are subject to countervailing measures.
●In December 2011, a U.S. federal court issued a ruling that according to U.S. tariff laws, the U.S. Department of Commerce has no authority to impose countervailing duties on goods from non-market economy countries. The court held that government expenditures in countries with non-market economies cannot be counted as “subsidies.”
●U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said during a hearing in the House of Representatives on February 29 that the federal court’s ruling harmed the U.S.’s trade enforcement capabilities. The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate quickly drafted bills to amend U.S. tariff laws after the hearings, aiming to overturn the federal court’s ruling. The U.S. government is determined to pass the countervailing tax bill this time.
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