Opinion

Timely countermove on US tire tariff

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-16 15:27

Trade relations between Beijing and Washington suffered a blow after US President Barack Obama imposed heavy duty on tires imported from China recently. On Sept 13, China's Ministry of Commerce filed a filed a formal complaint with the WTO over the steep US tariff. The ministry's timely countermove will be important to long-time US-China trade ties, says an article in Takongpao.com. Excerpt:

The US government's decision to impose extra tariff on China-made tires has its roots in a petition filed by a US union that represents workers in many American tire factories.

We just want to know the reasons why US manufacturers, the real market players, refuse to support the denouncement of Chinese exporters. We have difficulty again in understanding how China's low-end products can "raid the market" of US manufacturers' high-end market.

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The only thing certain is that the efforts to protect US tire producers will lead to a chain of events, including unemployment and price rise in that country. Also, if medium- and low-income consumers stop changing their car tires because of high prices, it could cause more traffic accidents and fatalities. An estimated 100,000 Chinese workers will be affected, too, because the tire industry back home will suffer a loss of up to $1 billion.

Obama's administration revealed its indifference to free trade immediately after taking office. As China's secretary of commerce said, this "rampant protectionism" is a blatant violation both of WTO rules and the US government's commitment at the G20 summit.

In response to the new US policy, China will take concrete action by taking recourse to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and other channels.