AFP Published April 18, 2024
Beijing on Thursday accused the United States of hypocrisy in response to accusations by President Joe Biden that China is “xenophobic” and “cheating” on trade.
“I would like to ask him: are you talking about China or the US itself?” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said when asked about the comments.
In a speech on Wednesday to union members, Biden called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing it of cheating as he courted blue-collar voters on an election campaign trip to the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
“They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” the 81-year-old Biden said to cheers at the headquarters of the United Steelworkers union in Pittsburgh.
The Democrat said Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidising them so heavily”.
Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminium if Beijing was confirmed to be using anti-competitive practices.
“They’re xenophobic,” he added. “They’ve got real problems. I’m not looking for a fight with China, I’m looking for competition — but fair competition.”
Beijing and Washington have clashed in recent years on flashpoint issues from technology and trade to human rights as well as over the self-ruled island of Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.
Relations have stabilised somewhat since Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping met in San Francisco in November for talks that both sides described as a qualified success.
The two held a follow-up telephone call this month, where they clashed over US trade restrictions on technology and on Taiwan, which Beijing claims.
But they also agreed that two high-level US officials would soon travel to China — US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited last week, with top diplomat Antony Blinken due in Beijing soon.
The US also this week announced a probe into China’s trade practices in the shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.
China’s commerce ministry hit back, saying the probe was “full of false accusations, misinterpreting normal trade and investment activities as harming US national security and corporate interests, and blaming China for its own industrial problems”.
US to Investigate China's Shipbuilding as Biden Calls for New Steel Tariffs
President Joe Biden and the U.S. Trade Representative confirmed today that they are initiating an investigation into China’s shipbuilding practices. News of the investigation comes as President Biden and the White House will tell steelworkers that they are also calling for a tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. He is also promising to block efforts by China and others to circumvent U.S. restrictions by importing products through Mexico.
The White House said the administration recognizes the growing concerns that unfair Chinese trade practices, including flooding the market with below-market-cost steel, are distorting the global shipbuilding market and eroding competition. While highlighting that the U.S. trade deficit with China is the lowest it has been in a decade, the administration is also accusing China of unfair competition saying China is undercutting U.S. products with artificially lower-priced alternatives. They cite the critical nature of steel in U.S. commercial and naval shipbuilding calling steel the backbone of the American economy.
The concerns over China subsidies and state control of the shipbuilding industry were outlined in a petition to the U.S. Trade Representative from five labor unions. Filed in March, the unions formally requested an investigation into Chinese acts, policies, and practices in the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors.
“The petition presents serious and concerning allegations of [China’s] longstanding efforts to dominate the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors, cataloging the PRC’s use of unfair, non-market policies and practices to achieve those goals,” said U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai. The announcement marks the start of a process of comments and hearings into China’s shipbuilding programs and could see tariffs imposed on Chinese-built ships calling at U.S. ports.
Administration officials are saying that China accounts for more than half the world’s steel exports. They said the Chinese have created overcapacity with non-market investments in the steel and aluminum industries.
“The steel and aluminum industries face a significant challenge from Chinese exports which are among the most emissions-intensive products in the world,” the White House wrote in its briefing document. It accuses China of “distorting the global shipbuilding market and eroding competition.”
China’s commerce ministry responded immediately to the accusations saying the initiative was “full of false accusations, misinterpreting normal trade and investment activities.” They repeated the Chinese position that the U.S. administration is playing the “China card” for its political aspirations.
The White House cites over 30 anti-dumping and countervailing duties on steel-related products already imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. President Biden said he was not seeking a trade war, but said steps would be taken against countries and importers that flood the market with cheap products.
President Biden said they would also be working with Mexico to jointly prevent China and other countries from evasion of tariffs on steel and aluminum by importing products into the United States from Mexico.
No comments:
Post a Comment