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China, US trade ministers to meet on a variety of big issues |
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17:02, July 15, 2009 |
China-US commerce ministers call for joint efforts to resist protectionism
A wide range of bilateral and multilateral trade issues will be on the agenda of the meeting between Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming and visiting United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Faye Locke on the afternoon of July 15, said Yao Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) at a press conference.
They will discuss the two sides' positions and opinions on the Doha round of talks and lingering problems between the bilateral trade between China and the US, particularly the trade imbalance.
China's exports to the US are mainly labor-intensive products. In recent years, China has seen massive trade surplus with the United States. "However, as the world today is moving towards economic globalization, trade surplus does not mean trade interests in reality", Yao said.
Yao added that China is always making efforts to create a balance in Sino-US trade. China has been exchanging ideas with the US on that issue, including the US hi-tech export restriction to China.
The US is China's second biggest trade partner, next to the European Union. Sino-US bilateral trade accounts for about 18 percent of China's total international trade volume. The two-way trade shrank 16.6 percent for the first half the year. The decrease was lower than that of China's trade with the EU and Japan, China's second and third trading partners respectively.
Carbon tariffs will also be part of the discussions between the commerce ministers of the two countries.
Yao said that proposals to impose "carbon tariffs" will violate the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as the spirit of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
China stands against this proposal and regards it as disguised trade protectionism in the name of environmental protection and energy conservation. "The carbon tariff, once it is implemented, will trigger trade retaliation", Yao warned.
In response to the US and the EU complaints to the WTO over China's restrictions on the export of some key industrial raw materials, he disclosed that recently a Chinese delegation in Geneva has held negotiations with relevant parties on that issue.
He added that China's export policies are in line with WTO rules and are consistent with international requirements on environment protection and resource utilization.
Most manufacturers understand the purpose of China's export policies. Some foreign importers have complained against the policy.
Although those policies caused a price rise, all enterprises should take corporate responsibility, he added.
By People's Daily Online
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