China Angry Over U.S. Steel Pipe Duties

BEIJING (AP) -- China criticized Washington for imposing anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made steel pipes and launched a probe Friday of imported U.S. autos, adding to trade tensions two weeks before President Barack Obama visits Beijing.

The latest moves ratchet up disputes over market access for goods from poultry and tires to Hollywood movies. But Beijing and Washington are confining the conflicts to diplomatic channels, apparently hoping to avert a trade war that could damage wide-ranging cooperation on issues such as the global economic crisis, North Korea and climate change.

The Commerce Ministry criticized the U.S. decision Thursday to raise tariffs on Chinese pipes as protectionist. It said the move violated World Trade Organization principles and commitments by Washington and other Group of 20 major economies to avoid protectionism amid the global economic crisis.

"China resolutely opposes use of such protectionist practices, and will take measures to protect the interests of domestic industry," ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement on the ministry's Web site.

The U.S. Commerce Department said it concluded Chinese producers were dumping pipes used by the oil and gas industry and would impose duties of up to 99 percent.

Yi Xiaozhun, a deputy commerce minister, said the case was the biggest anti-dumping action yet against China by market value and affected exports worth $3.2 billion a year.

Also Friday, Beijing announced it was launching an anti-dumping investigation of imported U.S. autos. It said it was acting on a complaint by Chinese automakers but gave no details of the alleged American misconduct. The case could result in higher tariffs on U.S. autos if Chinese investigators conclude American automakers received improper subsidies or sold below fair-market price.

Beijing warned Washington at trade talks last month of the impending probe, a possible diplomatic gesture to reduce the political impact of Friday's announcement.

Meanwhile, the Chinese steel industry group said Friday major steel mills have asked the Commerce Ministry to launch an anti-dumping investigation of U.S.- and European-made hot rolled and stainless steel. It said the steel was being sold at improperly low prices and "caused injury to the Chinese market."

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing had no immediate comment about China's actions Friday.

The disputes come as Obama is due to arrive Nov. 15 on his first president visit to Beijing. Both governments have repeatedly stressed the importance of stable relations and senior leaders have avoided public comments about the trade disputes.

Beijing and Washington are especially eager to avoid irritants that might derail relations as they work together with other major governments to try to pull the global economy out of its worst downturn since the 1930s.

Both governments have stuck to the dispute-resolution process laid out in WTO agreements.

In August, Beijing backed down in a dispute over auto parts and altered its import tariffs after it lost an appeal of a WTO case brought by the United States, Europe and Canada that said it treated foreign suppliers unfairly.

On Wednesday, the United States joined Europe and Mexico in asking the WTO to investigate Chinese curbs on exports of bauxite and other industrial raw materials. Beijing says it must rein in mining to protect the environment, but Washington and others say the curbs improperly give Chinese companies favorable access to some materials.

Yi, the commerce minister, repeated Chinese complaints that Washington treats China as a non-market economy. He called that status a Cold War relic and said Beijing hopes it is soon repealed.

"The 'market economy status' is the core of this case. An important reason why the U.S. verdict is so unfavorable to us is that it used double standards rather than the WTO standard that commonly applied by other countries," Yi said. "That's why our companies are treated unfairly and unequally. China is very dissatisfied."

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Dishonest 11/6/2009 12:08:00 PM China "treated unfairly and unequally"? What happened? Is “china” willing to pay royalties on the thousands of patent they infringed? Is “China” willing to pay for the video, the technology and software they have stolen? Did you see the tariffs that “China” applies to everything foreign? Come on... Dishonest people are the one complaining the loudest. Go Obama!
China Opposess Protectionist Practices 11/6/2009 12:50:00 PM I am not sure why the Chinese keep saying things which are clearly not true. If they lie long enough, no one will believe them when they tell the truth. The Chincom governmnt has alowly started to learn this with regards to disease outbreaks, it is time they grow up and apply this attitude to business practices too.
China Angry? 11/6/2009 1:51:00 PM China steals patents, intellectual properties, floods other countries markets with junk, produces items with dangerous toxins, charges huge tariffs on everything foreign and then they cry when someone calls them on it. Nothing from China should be allowed in this country if it is not made to US standards and proof that it was not made by child or slave labor. And they should be liable for damages, like in the drywall case, tainted baby food and pet food. Then maybe just maybe they can go to the WTO.
Fair Trade 11/6/2009 2:01:00 PM Fair trade should mean equal trade, not the huge inequities in the trade balances that we have seen with China for many years. It is definitely time to stop importing so much junk from China (including all of their contaminated products), that they ship here at the expense of our own industries.
Really strange idea: Don't buy their cheap materials 11/6/2009 2:31:00 PM I guess that'll NEVER happen. That would be like getting citizens to organize and act in mass numbers.
Dumping? This article is a comedy, right? 11/6/2009 10:09:00 PM It is most amusing to me that the Chinese threaten to investigate US cars being shipped into China as being "dumped". If it weren't a financially lucrative market, those cars would not be getting there, and thus would not be available to reverse engineer to discover how to make more low quality imitation parts to send to the USA. Get over it, Chicoms! Much of the crap you send into this country is of such poor quality and questionable quality that DUMPING IT is the first thing that comes to mind! When we compare North American steel with that from nearly any other country, the quality and strength, etc. just isn't there. The most predominant problem I've found is inconsistent ductility, and to a lesser extent, dimensional tollerance. I would much rather have domestic product, as it is at least a known quality and alloy item. This is cheaper than the Chinese stuff in the long run, if safety is any sort of consideration!
Really strange: just look at these responses! 11/9/2009 8:29:00 AM The first five comments are right on the money! I'm glad everyone recognizes the patent rights issue- so many don't see it. All you have to do is shop places like CVS to see blatent copies of known patented products, such as Nerf and Wii. These crap items lure the elderly into thinking that they are exactly what the Grandson wants- but are so far from the actual item it isn't even funny. ReallyStrangeIdea: hey, I tend to agree. I don't know if it had anything to do with it, though, but a while ago I said enough is enough, and decided to post comments here trying to clarify cHINA's manufacturing impact. Now, on nearly every issue posted as an article that includes China as a subject, I see the same kind of feedback. This shows me that people will still polarize and organize when the issue at hand is truly important. So don't quit leaving the feedback here, don't stop spreading the message, and as much as possible, buy American. Start a Facebook or Blogger account specifically dealing in one aspect of this international issue, and provide links to other sources. In this way, even if you don't purchase big ticket items or care to talk to others face-to-face, you can still have a significant impact on the outcome here. This is a matter of urgency so critical that I'd call it a national emergency. It is time to take back what we've let slip by, and block those things that have been beaten into our policy. Good luck, folks, and please don't quit!!!!!!
China is like a teenager 11/9/2009 9:50:00 AM China is like a teenager, every time they are called to task, they just come back with some silly reply of what is being done to them. How unfair the world is to them. fact of the matter they are a communist dictatorship. Peoples rights mean nothing to their government, and are "always" subject to change at a whim. We never should have started purchasing form thie former thirld war enemy of this country in the first place. Their inferior legitimate products have given us such great products as tainted baby food, poisoned pet food, poison painted baby toys, and drywall that slowly destroys the homes built with it. If this is their legitimatly manufactured product, just think how unsafe their counterfeit stuff is. Now we've since contracted with them to make H1N1 vaccine. How many opportunities do we want to give this country to destroy us! Its time to undue the damamge done, suffer through some temporary increases in product costs and rebuild our manufacturing industry and economy. Until China is willing to honor the laws and abide by other countries rights, it is not unreasonable to take the car away form this unreasonable teenager. The world does not resolve around, but it soon will if we continue to bow down to their every whim!
Typical Americans 11/9/2009 11:42:00 AM China has a population 4 times that of the US. I would say it's unfair to stereotype all of China into one entity that "steals patents, technology, software". There are honest companies in China too. Because of this, each case needs to be looked at individually, instead of stereotyping the case into what has happened in the past.
Typical Americans trying to please everyone 11/9/2009 2:54:00 PM I'm sure that, among the 4x population, there are honest companies. However, for every honest company there are dishonest ones. There are companies that have not a care in the world about pollution and stripping of natural resources. People who literally sit on the stoop of their shack boiling lead from recovered circuit boards for money. While true that most all industrial nations have been guilty of the same behavior during the mechanical revolution, have we not learned from our mistakes? Apparently China is above everything. They obviously do not prescribe to "fair trade" practices. They refuse to curtail dangerous environmental impact. They don't care about their employees. All of this makes China look like the United States in 1880. Corporate management throughout the world is looking to China (and Mexico, and India, Bangladesh, Philippines, and so on) to help line their pockets. Everyone turns a convenient blind eye to worker's rights, their environmental impact, their unfair international trade practices, and the fact that their governments are still proving they are enemies of our State. (WITH issues like intellectual property rights, patents, trade secrets, espionage, and the pulling of political strings by contributing to campaigns.) ...:::cough, cough, CLINTON, et al, cough cough:::... Besides, how can you argue an unfair stereotype when, clearly, the China import-export bank is lending billions of dollars to African countries that can't hope to pay them back? (Environmental resource blackmail is what it is.) What about the 100% import tax on U.S. goods crossing their border, when the U.S. tax is a pitiful fraction of that percentage for Chinese goods? If you can't see this, you just have to read a bit more, that's all. No offense intended. That is, unless you own a silver lined parachute and are actively part of the problem.

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