Ministry of Commerce: some countries propose that carbon tariffs violate WTO basic rules

In recent years, individual countries intend to enact legislation containing "carbon tariff" clauses, some international organizations also put forward "carbon tariffs" can be applied to international trade rules, the Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian said in a speech today: China has always advocated to work with the international community to deal with climate change, but some developed countries to impose "carbon tariffs" on imported products　　Practice, violates the basic rules of WTO, is the name of environmental protection, trade protection of the real.　　The Chinese government has always taken a proactive and responsible stance in tackling climate change, issued the China National Programme on Climate change in 2007 and formulated a comprehensive work programme on energy conservation and emission reduction, and participated actively in international negotiations on tackling climate change. China believes that "carbon tariffs" not only violate the basic rules of WTO, but also violate the principle of "common and differentiated responsibility" of developed and developing countries in the field of climate change established by the Kyoto Protocol, which seriously harms the interests of developing countries. "Carbon tariffs" will only disrupt the international trade order and trigger a trade war. It is inappropriate to put in place "carbon tariffs" in a situation where countries in the world are working together to tackle the international financial crisis and to make efforts for this year's International conference on climate Change. This will not help to strengthen the confidence of the international community to cooperate in the response to the crisis, nor does it contribute to the efforts made by all countries to negotiate climate change.