US gets warning on steel safeguards ( 2003-11-20 23:43) (China Daily)
China will take retaliatory measures if the United States fails to lift its
illegal tariff on steel products, a senior official said Thursday.
"We will raise tariffs on some US imports and are studying the details of how
to do so,'' said Vice-Minister of Commerce Ma Xiuhong when asked how China would
respond if the United States did not abide by a recent World Trade Organization
(WTO) ruling.
The WTO Appellate Body ruled last Monday that US safeguards for its steel
industry are inconsistent with WTO rules, upholding the major findings of a July
ruling.
China, along with the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea,
Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand and Brazil, complained to the Geneva-based WTO
over the steel duties. The duties were initially levied at up to 30 per cent
from March 2002 but subsequently reduced slightly.
It was the first panel request by China since it joined the WTO in late 2001.
Members affected by the US measures will be entitled to apply for redress and
take other appropriate action in accordance with WTO rules, unless the
safeguards are withdrawn.
The European Commission has drawn up a hit list of US imports worth about
US$2.2 billion a year -- including motorcycles, citrus fruits and textiles --
which will be targeted with retaliatory sanctions.
EC Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has said the retaliatory import tariffs
could be in place as soon as early December if the United States does not back
down now.
Japan is also considering raising duties on at least five products in
retaliation against import tariffs protecting the US steel industry, the daily
Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) said earlier this week.
Quoting Trade Ministry sources, the Nikkei said the products Japan was
considering as targets for the retaliatory tariffs included coal, chemicals,
steel, textiles and electrical machinery.
If introduced, the tariffs would cost US exporters 10 billion yen (US$91
million) a year, the paper said.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday President George W. Bush
will decide in a "short period of time'' whether or not to rollback disputed
steel tariffs that have threatened a new transatlantic trade war.
Ma said the United States should withdraw the safeguard measures without
delay since the WTO has made a ruling against them.
The United States proposed a compromise to head off a trade war with the EU.
But European trade officials dismissed the potential compromise from US
steelmakers that would reduce contentious steel tariffs, saying the tariffs
remain illegal and ought to be completely removed.
The US safeguard measures triggered a new round of trade protectionism in the
global steel industry, with the European Union, Canada and Japan rushing to
protect domestic markets from steel exports that might be diverted from the
United States.
China followed suit with temporary measures introduced for six months last
May. They were extended to three years upon their expiration in mid-November.