China stated it “firmly opposes” the U.S. investigation into its maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries, calling the move a “mistake on top of a mistake.”
In an official statement past due Wednesday, China’s ministry of trade stated the U.S. supplies loads of billions of greenbacks in “discriminatory” subsidies to its home industries, “yet accuses China of adopting so-called ‘non-market practices.’”
“In fact, the development of China’s industries is the result of companies’ technological innovation and active participation in market competition,” the Chinese ministry stated.
On Wednesday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative initiated a probe into China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries, alleging that Beijing used “unfair, non-market policies and practices” to dominate those sectors. Under the Trade Act of 1974, Section 301 seeks to handle unfair overseas executive practices impacting U.S. trade.
“By launching a new Section 301 investigation, the U.S. is making a mistake on top of a mistake,” the Chinese ministry stated.
Beijing known as on the U.S. to “respect multilateral rules” and vowed to “take all necessary steps to resolutely defend its rights and interests.”
The investigation comes after 5 nationwide hard work unions introduced a petition on March 12 asking for the U.S. to probe the insurance policies and practices of China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors.
U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai has pledged to release a “full and thorough investigation into the unions’ concerns.”
“The allegations reflect what we have already seen across other sectors, where [China] utilizes a wide range of non-market policies and practices to undermine fair competition and dominate the market, both in China and globally,” she stated, in line with the USTR remark.
President Joe Biden has often known as on the USTR to triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports, in a bid to give protection to American industries.
“Chinese policies and subsidies for their domestic steel and aluminum industries means high-quality U.S. products are undercut by artificially low-priced Chinese alternatives produced with higher emissions,” the White House stated in a statement.
In an address to union workers in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Biden accused China of “cheating” in its metal business practices.
“They’re not competing. They’re cheating,” he stated, including that “we’ve seen the damage here in America.”
“The bottom line is that I want fair competition with China, not conflict.”
Deborah Elms, head of business coverage on the Asia-based Hinrich Foundation, stated the Section 301 investigation may well be extra vital than Biden’s name for tariff will increase on Chinese metal and aluminum imports.
The general quantity of Chinese metal into the U.S. marketplace is not up to 1%, Elms instructed CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Thursday.
She stated the release of a Section 301 investigation on shipbuilding “is becoming more of an issue potentially.”
“Now, that could be much more significant because it sets up the stakes for further retaliation by the U.S. against China, and then potentially by China against the U.S.,” Elms stated.
“As we head into a very tight election season, both parties [Democrats and Republicans] are competing in the U.S. to see who could be toughest on China.”