New China-U.S. Trade FlapBreaks Out Over TV Duties
A U.S. decision to impose anti-dumping penalties on imported Chinese televisions is compounding trade frictions as the two countries prepare for a crucial meeting to resolve a growing pile of commercial disputes.
China's Ministry of Commerce and leading television makers said Wednesday that the U.S. Commerce Department acted unfairly this week in imposing duties of 4.35% to 78.45% on imports of low-priced Chinese-made TVs with screens of 20 inches or larger.
Though the anti-dumping levies for many TV manufacturers were lower than in an initial ruling made in November, the companies said they would contest the decision before the International Trade Commission makes a final decision. The Chinese government promised its support.
The tiff comes at an inconvenient time for both governments, as they iron out an agenda for a much-anticipated trade neg otiating session in Washington next Wednesday. Expectations are high on both sides in part because the gathering, known as the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, normally held annually, last met two years ago. Last year's meeting was scrubbed amid China's epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
During the hiatus, the U.S. trade deficit with China ballooned to $124 billion last year. Disputes have also multiplied, covering products ranging from semiconductors and wireless computing technology to Chinese wooden bedroom furniture and American beef and poultry.
"There are just loads of concrete issues," said Ma Yu, a trade expert at a Ministry of Commerce think tank.
China, in trying to defuse the tensions, has inadvertently heightened hopes for progress by naming as its lead negotiator a senior official with a reputation as no-nonsense trouble-shooter, Vice Premier Wu Yi. Yet both sides are confronting domestic pressures -- export-driven Chinese industries on China's side, and for the U.S., the election-year debate on perceived unfair Chinese trade practices -- that limit their room to maneuver. The Chinese are "doing as much as they can to deliver in Washington," said a person familiar with the discussions. "But it's obvious that it's not going to be enough."
China attempted to set the tone for the negotiations Wednesday with Premier Wen Jiabao telling visiting Vice President Dick Cheney that Beijing wanted to reduce its trade surplus. But he struck a less compromising stance on revaluing the Chinese currency. Pegged the yuan to the dollar, U.S. officials say, unfairly lowers the price of Chinese goods and contributes to the loss of American jobs. Mr. Wen said the yuan's exchange rate reflected China's economic conditions, the Reuters news agency reported.
One issue for potential progress, Chinese and U.S. officials said, is in an unlikely arena -- the widespread counterfeiting of trademarked and patented goods and other intellectual property that has been a perennial dispute for more than a decade.
"Piracy is ubiquitous," said Patrick Powers, who runs the Beijing office for the U.S.-China Business Council, a lobbying group. "A lot of American companies are afraid to come here and sell their products because they think they'll be pirated."
At U.S. prodding, China is likely to announce a framework to ramp up protections for intellectual property that, while having little immediate impact, should improve enforcement over time, the officials said. As part of the agreement, the U.S. is negotiating for China to increase purchases of American software. China's Supreme People's Court is expected to issue an interpretation toughening notoriously light criminal penalties for manufacturing and distributing pirated products.
Other disputes, however, are proving more nettlesome. Comprise has so far eluded officials over a looming fight: Chinese wants to impose a distinct national standard for wireless technology, known commonly as Wi-Fi, and in doing so force foreign companies like Intel Corp. to turn over proprietary technology to Chinese manufacturers by June 1. Chinese officials are divided, with some arguing for a delay and others saying that China needs to maintain its own standard for competitiveness and to protect state secrets, industry executives said.
The U.S.'s filing last month of its first complaint against China with the World Trade Organization -- on Chinese tax rebates for domestic manufacturers of semiconductors that the U.S. says discriminates against imported chips -- is also expected to get an airing at the negotiations. In a hopeful sign, Chinese tax officials are crunching numbers to see how revenues would be affected if the rebates were adjusted, said Lawrence Sussman, an attorney in Beijing with the U.S. law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
But China is also coming to the talks prepared to push on behalf of its companies. A slew of pending or imposed duties on imports of Chinese goods the U.S. deems to have been sold at below-market prices is impacting some of China's most robust industries, with the television makers the latest.
Chinese exports of TVs affected by Tuesday's Commerce Department ruling were worth $530 million worldwide last year, and by month's end, Chinese furniture makers face potential levies on $1 billion in wooden furniture exports to the U.S.
China wants the U.S. to limit these anti-dumping filings by removing China's designation as a "non-market economy." The classification allows the U.S. and American companies seeking relief to measure the cost of Chinese goods, not by their price in China, but by that in a comparable third country, usually India.
"China's productivity and efficiency is so much higher than India, so our prices are lower," said Xiao Lian, an economist with the Institute of World Economics and Politics who recently returned from a study tour of India.
In a nod to Beijing, U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Grant Aldonas told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that his department is planning hearings on giving China a roadmap for removing the designation. But he added that one yardstick would be floating the Chinese currency.
彩电纠纷加剧中美贸易摩擦
正当中美两国准备举行一个关键性会谈来解决双方日益升级的贸易纠纷之际，美国决定对从中国进口的电视机征收反倾销关税进一步加剧了两国的贸易摩擦。
美国商务部(Commerce Department)本周决定对从中国进口的20英寸以上电视机征收4.35%至78.45%的关税，中国商务部(Ministry of Commerce)和主要电视生产商周三表示，此举是不公正的。虽然对中国许多电视机生产商征收的反倾销关税低于去年11月初步裁定的水平，但这些公司表示，它们将在美国国际贸易委员会(U.S. International Trade Commission)作出终裁之前进行申辩，中国政府承诺对其予以支持。
对两国政府而言，这起争端来得有些不是时候，因为双方已经敲定4月21日在华盛顿举行人们期待已久的中美商业贸易联合委员会(Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade)会议。双方对此次会议都寄予了很高预期，部分原因是该会议虽然通常是每年举行一次，但上次举行的时间是在两年以前。
去年，由于中国爆发非典型肺炎(SARS)疫情，这一会议被取消。在此期间，美国对中国的贸易逆差进一步扩大，去年达到1,240亿美元。双边贸易争端也日益加剧，涉及的产品十分广泛，从半导体、无线计算技术到中国木制卧室家具、美国牛肉和禽类产品。
商务部智囊机构的贸易专家马玉称，具体问题林林总总，千头万绪。
为了消除争端，中国任命素以麻烦解决高手著称的副总理吴仪担任首席谈判代表，这在无意中抬高了人们对事态取得进展的期望。然而，双方都面临著国内的巨大压力，中方的压力来自以出口驱动的国内工业，而美国方面则是来自大选之年有关中国不公正贸易做法的争论，这使得双方的运作空间受到限制。某知情人士称，中方为了此次华盛顿会谈已经竭尽全力。但是显然，这还是不够的。
中国试图为中美谈判设定基调。本周三，中国总理温家宝向来访的美国副总统切尼(Dick Cheney)表示，中国希望降低贸易顺差。但是，他反对重估人民币汇率的立场则更趋坚定。据路透社报导，温家宝说，人民币汇率反映了中国的经济状况。美国官方则认为，人民币钉住美元不合理降低了中国产品的价格，导致美国人丧失就业机会。
中美官员表示，有望取得进展的一个问题在知识产权保护方面。冒牌产品和侵犯他人专利权的产品泛滥及中国其他侵犯知识产权的行为已经成为十多年来美中两国的持久争端。
美中贸易全国委员会(U.S.-China Business Council)中国区主任包崇侃(Patrick Powers)称，盗版现象无处不在。许多美国公司因为怕其产品遭仿冒，都不敢来中国销售。 官员们认为，迫于美国的压力，中国可能宣布一个加强知识产权保护的框架方案，虽然方案不会取得立竿见影之效，但中国将会逐渐加大实施力度。作为协议的一部分，美国将希望中国提高对美国软件的购买量，预计中国最高人民法院(Supreme People's Court)很快将出台一项对制造和销售假冒产品从严处罚的司法解释。
但是，两国的其他纷争更加棘手。迄今为止，双方官员在其中一项争端中都不愿作出让步：中国决定实施一个截然不同于Wi-Fi标准的无线技术国家标准。根据这项规定，英特尔(Intel Corporation)等外国公司将不得不在6月1日以前将其专有技术授予中国生产商。行业人士称，中国官员对此意见不一，有的希望推迟实施，而其他人则表示，中国需要保持自身标准来提高竞争优势，保护国家机密。 上月，美国首次针对中国向世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization, WTO)提起诉讼，美国称，中国对国内晶片厂商的退税政策是对进口晶片的歧视措施。预计这一问题也将被提到双边谈判议程中。美国律师事务所O'Melveny & Myers LLP驻北京的律师萨斯曼(Lawrence Sussman)表示，中国税务当局正在评估如果退税政策进行调整，税收收入会受到怎样的影响，这是一个可喜的信号。
但是，中国也会代表其国内企业在谈判中给美方施加压力。美国即将或已经对一连串它认定存在倾销的中国进口商品征收关税，这使得中国一些最强大的行业受到影响，电视机制造业即是最新一例。 受到美国商务部周二裁决影响的中国产电视机去年的出口额为5.3亿美元。到本月底，中国家具生产商在对美国木制家具出口方面可能面临10亿美元的惩罚性关税。
中国希望美国通过撤销中国的"非市场经济"地位来限制反倾销案的孳生。这一归类使得美国政府和美国企业以替代国来比照评估中国产品成本，即不是依照产品在中国的价格，而是用一个可比的第三国作为参照（通常是印度）。最近刚从印度访问归来的社科院世界经济政治研究所的经济学家肖琏表示，中国的劳动生产率和工作效率都要大大高于印度，自然产品价格要低一些。
美国商务部副部长阿尔多纳斯(Grant Aldonas)周二在华盛顿向记者表示，商务部打算听取意见，给中国提供一个取消"非市场经济"地位的路线图。但他补充说，其中一个衡量标准将是人民币自由浮动，而这是中国官员迄今为止一直坚决反对的。
