China denounced as protectionist new US anti-dumping duties on steel pipes and launched its own investigation into imports of US-made automobiles yesterday, a week before a visit by US President Barack Obama.
It also called for Washington’s swift recognition that China is a market economy, which would make it harder for the US to declare Chinese products are dumped.
China’s calibrated response may be an attempt to avoid a tense atmosphere in the hope of concessions during Obama’s visit.
The US on Thursday slapped preliminary anti-dumping duties of US$2.63 billion on Chinese-made pipes used in the oil and gas industry, in the biggest US trade action against China to date. That follows countervailing duties on the pipes, announced in September.
“China resolutely opposes the abuse of protectionist measures,” China’s Commerce Ministry said on its Web site.
Obama will visit China for several days from Nov. 15 and trade disputes are likely to feature prominently.
China’s investigation would target sedans with engine capacity of 2 liters and above, as well as sports utility vehicles, the Commerce Ministry said, issuing a long list of incentives and tax breaks granted by the US federal government and the state of Michigan.
“We hope that the US will set aside its biases and as quickly as possible recognize China’s market economic status, thoroughly overcoming its double standards and giving equal and fair treatment to Chinese firms,” it said.
In trade meetings with US officials last week in Hangzhou, the Chinese pressed for recognition as a market economy, before the 2016 deadline negotiated when it entered the WTO.
“We hope that the US will abide by the principles of free trade and non-discrimination in trade under WTO rules in handling this issue,” Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun (易小準) said.
Washington promised to set up a panel to consider the issue.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue
RSS