"China strongly opposed the U.S. government's implementation of discriminatory measures against tires from China. Imposing protectionist measures would not only harm the interests of China's tire industry and Sino-U.S. trade, but also jeopardize the overall interests of U.S. economy."
Backgrounder:
The EU is China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade valued 159.97 billion US dollars in the first half 2009, a decline of 20.9 percent over the same period last year.
The United States is China's second largest trading partner. Sino-US bilateral trade value reached 132.09 billion US dollars from Jan. to June 2009, down 16.6 percent.
"The ruling of the U.S. ITC on July 14 lacks objective evidence," said the Bureau of Fair Trade for Imports and Exports under the MOFCOM. China hopes the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would advise President Obama to desist from taking corrective measures.
"This measure ... would not help in the preservation of manufacturing jobs, and would be harmful to consumers, as these tires are often an affordable solution to those drivers with limited budgets," said the U.S. Tire Industry Association.
The WTO decided on July 31 to establish an expert panel to investigate and rule whether a U.S. ban on Chinese poultry imports upon a second request by the Chinese delegation.
China hoped experts of the WTO would be "impartial" and "just" in handling the Sino-U.S. poultry trade dispute, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Yao Jian said on July 31.
China on July 31 filed a complaint to the WTO on anti-dumping measures taken by the EU against the import of Chinese iron or steel fasteners. The EU measures "failed to comply with the WTO rules in the process starting from initiation, investigation and to the final determination," said the Chinese mission to the WTO.
China's government and companies should learn to apply the WTO dispute settlement mechanism in a "rational" and "practical" manner to protect interests and deal with complaints.
