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Trade War featuring US and China |
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 |
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China will levy heavy anti-dumping duties on U.S. chicken products, its Commerce Ministry said on Friday, a move likely to aggravate trade relations and antagonise one of the few U.S. industries that profitably exports to China.
The ministry's initial investigation showed that U.S. companies had dumped chicken products into the Chinese market, according to the ministry's website (www.mofcom.gov.cn).
The preliminary tariffs were announced a day after China requested a World Trade Organisation ruling on European Union duties on shoes made in China. That was the most recent of many cases demonstrating China's embrace of the WTO to keep markets open to the exports on which it depends.
The United States and China are engaged in a series of trade disputes, particularly over the value of the Chinese currency, with President Barack Obama this week vowing to get tough in dealing with complaints that U.S. exports are at a disadvantage.
"The world needs strong U.S.-China economic engagement now, not a ratcheting up of trade tensions," said Michael Barbalas, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
Chicken wings and feet, virtually worthless in the U.S. market, are a delicacy in southern China. Many U.S. poultry producers count on the Chinese market to round out their profits.
"Chicken feet and wings are not wanted in the U.S. so they sell them to China, they dump them below cost," said Wang Xiulin, president of the Chinese Poultry Association.
"For over a decade, the U.S. has sent big volumes of chicken to the Chinese market, hurting producers here. Last year, the Chinese poultry industry was really hurting so we asked for this investigation."
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