Visiting European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said in
Beijing on Friday that the EU is canceling some of the advantages
enjoyed by Chinese commodities under the Generalized System of
Preferences so that other developing countries can benefit.
He
denied that the move was in response to the pressure of the
appreciating euro currency on the EU trade deficit with China.
Chinese products have already enjoyed market access to the European
Union market under the system and are no longer sensitive to
changes in tariff rates, Lamy told reporters at a press briefing
after he gave a speech to the EU Chamber of Commerce in
Beijing.
The EU has announced it will raise tariffs on Chinese commodities
from the current 3.5 percent to 5 percent in October.
It
plans to exclude Chinese commodities completely from the
Generalized System of Preferences in the first half of next
year.
The cancellation will affect almost all Chinese exports to the EU,
including household electronic appliances, clocks, watches, optical
equipment, musical instruments, clothes and other consumer
goods.
The Generalized System of Preferences is a scheme under which
developed countries grant reduced tariffs to finished and
half-finished industrial products from developing countries.
Chinese commodities have become more competitive in the EU under
the system. The EU has grown into China's third-largest trading
partner and accounted for 14 percent of China's total foreign trade
last year.
The EU Trade Commissioner said that the EU drafting of a new rule
for registering chemicals is not for protectionist reasons either,
because the process is transparent and reflects EU environmental
concerns.
He
said Brazil, India, Japan and the United States are doing the same
thing.
Lamy said only 10 percent of EU trade is sensitive to exchange
rates and that the EU trade policy is not linked to trade
deficits.
Appreciation of the euro is a problem for traders and EU exporters
but good for importers, especially of energy, he told the media in
Beijing.
On
Friday, Lamy met Premier Wen Jiabao and Li Changjiang,
director-general of the General Administration of Quality
Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine. He was due to hold talks
with Minister of Commerce Lu Fuyuan on Saturday.
China had a trade surplus of US$9.7 billion with the EU last year
and the amount reached US$4.3 billion in the first four months of
this year, according to Chinese customs statistics.
China's exports to the euro zone increased by 48.6 percent year on
year to US$16.33 billion in the first four months of this year, a
growth rate 15.1 percentage points higher than the country's
overall export growth.
Imports from the euro zone rose by 39.6 percent between January and
April on a year-on-year basis, which was 6.4 percentage points
lower than the country's overall import growth.
(China Daily June 14, 2003)