China will take retaliatory measures if the United States fails
to lift its illegal tariffs on steel products, a senior official
said yesterday.
"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WTO rules, unless the safeguards are withdrawn.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 Japanese 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 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 US safeguard measures have 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 Daily November 21, 2003)