The WTO barred China on Thursday from imposing duties on certain US steel exports, siding with US President Barack Obama in a dispute with Beijing over a type of steel made in two election battleground states.
The case involved duties imposed by China on “grain-oriented electrical steel,” which is used in the cores of high-efficiency transformers, electric motors and generators. The steel is made by AK Steel Corp of Ohio and ATI Allegheny Ludlum of Pennsylvania.
TINY CASE
Although the specialty steel case is tiny compared with other trade disputes with Beijing, the WTO ruling gave Obama a timely win as he defends himself against accusations by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that he is soft on China.
“Today, we are again plainly stating that we will continue to take every step necessary to ensure that China plays by the rules and does not unfairly restrict exports of US products,” US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its Web site that it would “handle this case according to WTO regulations.”
However, ministry spokesman Shen Danyang (沈丹陽) criticized the “politicization” of trade issues during the US presidential campaign.
SMALL BENEFIT
Derek Scissors, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said Thursday’s ruling was “a small benefit for the Obama campaign because it can advertise ‘beating China’ in Ohio, but it’s not a benchmark for anything.”
Obama has won WTO victories against Beijing in areas ranging from intellectual property rights and financial services to raw materials trade, and he has launched several other challenges, such as a case against Chinese export restrictions on rare earths.
TRADE ENFORCEMENT
He has also created an interagency trade enforcement unit to devote more resources to ensuring China and other countries abide by global trade rules.
The Romney campaign team repeated on Thursday that China was stealing US jobs and that Obama was not standing up to Beijing.
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polar Semiconductor LLC to collaborate on the production of 8-inch wafers in the US. The collaboration aims to strengthen 8-inch wafer manufacturing in the US amid Washington’s efforts to increase onshore manufacturing of semiconductors, contribute to supply chain resilience against shifting geopolitical dynamics, and ensure a secure domestic supply of power semiconductors critical to automotive, electric grids, robotic manufacturing and data centers, the companies said in a joint statement. Under the MOU, Polar and UMC will identify devices for Polar to manufacture at
TARIFF TALKS: The US secretary of commerce is eyeing more than US$300 billion in investments and said Taiwan would train US workers, but Taipei has denied the latter US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the US is expecting a large investment pledge from Taiwan in trade talks, while President William Lai (賴清德) listed areas that need improvement in order for projects to be completed. “We’re in the midst of discussions,” Lutnick said on Wednesday. “But the fact is, this administration’s goal is to bring semiconductor manufacturing to America.” Lai on Wednesday said Taiwan is supportive of US President Donald Trump’s goal of reindustrializing the US, including efforts to ramp up semiconductor production. Such a goal would require the US to reduce its reliance on Taiwan as a key source
The demise of the coal industry left the US’ Appalachian region in tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water and countless kilometers of abandoned underground mines. Now entrepreneurs are eyeing the rural region with ambitious visions to rebuild its economy by converting old mines into solar power systems and data centers that could help fuel the increasing power demands of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. One such project is underway by a non-profit team calling itself Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning and Technology Accelerator) Lab, which is looking to develop energy sources on about 26,305 hectares of old coal land in
Netflix on Friday faced fierce criticism over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices. As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros — the studio behind Casablanca, the Harry Potter movies and Friends — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. Titanic director James Cameron called the buyout a “disaster,” while a group of prominent producers are lobbying US Congress to oppose the deal,
RSS