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US to impose tariffs on Chinese products
By Zhang Jin (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-07-17 02:17
The United States International Trade Commission has ruled that China has
dumped plastic bags, ironing boards and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol under market
prices.
Analysts said the final decision discriminates against Chinese exporters and
is the United States' latest attempt to narrow its trade deficit with China.
Chinese ironing-board makers face tariffs of as much as 113 per cent on US$19
million worth of exports to the United States each year, the trade commission
said in a statement.
Bag manufacturers such as Rally Plastics Co will on average pay 23 per cent
on the US$184 million worth of plastic shopping bags shipped to the United
States.
Tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, which is used in industrial production, is
subject to duties of 136.86 per cent, the highest of the three goods.
Only a few Chinese makers may have a narrow escape.
It is reported the Nantong Huasheng Plastic Goods Co, a private company in
East China's Jiangsu Province, had a 2.26 per cent tariff imposed on it and a
Shenzhen-based bag maker got a zero tariff in an early judgment by the US
Department of Commerce.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and relevant industrial associations were
unavailable for comment Friday.
Analysts say the ruling would push a number of Chinese makers out of the US
market.
"This is the latest example of US protectionism of its domestic industries in
a bid to rectify the bilateral trade deficit," said Liang Yanfen, a senior
researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic
Co-operation, a think-tank of the ministry.
"It also reflects increasingly tense trade relations as the US presidential
election draws closer," she added.
The United States has imposed preliminary duties on Chinese bedroom furniture
and shrimps in the past month.
US sock producers also petitioned to the Bush administration to impose quotas
on the imports of Chinese socks in late June. The US Commerce Department will
decide whether to take up the case on July 20.
"Friction between China and the United States will increase, given the huge
trade volume and intensified commercial interactions," Liang said.
The two trading powers have a US$ 62.36 billion trade volume in the first
five months.
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