Asia Times: China


	May 23, 2002	atimes.com

China

China, Japan join EU against US steel tariffs

BEIJING - China has announced plans to join the European Union (EU) and Japan in imposing protective tariffs on surging steel imports in a retaliatory move against the United States. Both the EU and Japan would like the US steel tariffs declared illegal. Japan filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday.

China Daily cited sources with the government as saying that China will levy tariffs of 7-26 percent on imports of nine steel products. The quota tariffs were adopted in response to appeals by Chinese steel firms, which claim US steel tariffs have incurred losses of an estimated US$1.2 billion.

The temporary safeguard measure comes shortly after China submitted to the WTO a list of US products on which it intends to suspend promised tariff reductions in line with its WTO commitments.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said that China's steel tariffs were proposed after the United States failed to give clear replies to Beijing's demand for compensation or exemption from the US tariff of 8-30 percent on steel imports, which took effect on March 20. China's retaliatory tariffs would take effect on March 20, 2005.

For its part, Japan has also presented the WTO with a list of US goods to be slapped with tariffs from June 18 of this year. Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma said a panel was likely to start hearing Japan's complaint in August, and that the process should take at least six months. The EU and Japan's complaints are expected to be heard as one case, and South Korea, Brazil and Slovenia may also merge their complaints into the Japan-EU case.

The US tariffs have drawn angry reactions from major trading partners and are likely to trigger a new round of trade protectionism for the steel industry. The EU, Japan, South Korea, Russia, China and Brazil are among the hardest hit.

(Asia Times Online/Asia Pulse/XIC)