US trade friction with China intensifies protectionism

A new round of trade frictions between China and the United States seems to be coming. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced 23rd that the US has taken China to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism in respect of the Chinese Government's restrictions on exports of important raw materials. It is the first time the Obama administration has brought a lawsuit against the WTO on China's trade issues.　　It is noteworthy that the EU has also joined the relevant litigation. The US side carefully prepared Kirk in a statement that day, said China, as the supplier of these important raw materials, the adoption of restrictions on export measures to damage the U.S. steel, aluminum and chemical industry interests, and the Chinese related industries have been "unfair advantage."　　The US side has held consultations with the Chinese side over the past two years to request the Chinese side to end the restriction, but the talks have not progressed, so the US decided to seek a solution through the WTO. According to US accusations, the above-mentioned trade dispute involves raw materials such as bauxite, coke, fluorine stone, magnesium, silicon, Emery, yellow phosphorus and zinc 9 kinds of raw materials. These materials are widely used in steel, chips, airplanes and many other industrial fields.　　U.S. officials believe the trade volume involved billions of of dollars. The actions of the US side have apparently been carefully prepared. Kirk said the US side does not act lightly, the move is a carefully considered measure.　　In a speech at Washington's U.S.-China Trade Commission, Kirk, while stressing the importance of U.S.-China trade, warned in an unusually tough tone that the US would put U.S. business and workers ' interests first, and would take a more proactive approach to trade with China to "safeguard US interests." Moreover, in dealing with China's problems, the western countries are adopting the attitude of persuasion. As the United States launched a lawsuit against China, the EU also filed a similar lawsuit in the WTO on this issue. The EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said in a statement: "China's restrictions on raw materials distort competition, inflate the prices of related materials, and make our businesses more miserable in the downturn." "In addition, Canada has not ruled out the possibility of joining the two-China lawsuit," he added. Melisa Leclerc, spokesman for Trade Minister Stockwell Dai, said: "The Canadian side is currently watching closely the development of the relevant developments."　　"The U.S., Europe and Canada have joined forces to bring China to the WTO in the case of restrictions on China's imports of auto parts. Under the rules of the WTO, the US and Europe will conduct bilateral consultations with China on the issue after the lawsuit is filed in the United States and the European Union.　　If the 60-day consultation cannot be agreed upon, the WTO may form a panel of hearings to consider the dispute. Because of the lengthy trade litigation, U.S. Trade Representative Kirk said that in order to bring the dispute to an end as soon as possible, the U.S. preferred option is to engage in dialogue and consultation with China.　　But he also stressed that the US would pass trade diplomacy if it could be resolved through trade diplomacy, and if not, the United States would take the next step. Bilateral trade relations will be affected by the US side has previously proposed 7 WTO lawsuits against China. According to Kirk, as the US-China trade friction intensifies, there is no rule ofThe lawsuit will be announced at a later date.　　China may have to be fully prepared, especially in the face of the Western countries ' joint litigation. Moreover, the WTO lawsuit may be only one aspect that the US side intensifies the trade friction with China. In another respect, just last week, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) made a positive damage ruling on China's passenger car and light truck tyres, confirming that a large increase in imports of Chinese tires has had a severe impact on domestic industry.　　U.S. President Barack Obama will make a final ruling in September this year, in the case of $1.7 billion trillion. In addition, the U.S. Department of Commerce is also conducting anti-dumping and countervailing investigations into China's oil-producing pipeline, involving an amount of USD 3.2 billion.　　In addition to this WTO lawsuit and special insurance case, this series of cases involved in the large amount of money, time is tight, for the past few years, but also highlighted the financial crisis in the United States of America's rise in trade protectionism. As two major trading countries, the Sino-US trade friction is a very normal event. But a series of trade frictions is unlikely to harm bilateral trade relations. For the Obama administration, the U.S. and China have a stake in the economy, and the US cannot talk about opposing protectionism and intensifying trade frictions with China while complying with domestic protectionist pressures. For China, although the trade war will be mutually-sustained, it cannot allow the United States to continue to take measures to discriminate against Chinese products.