---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
China Says U.S. Complaint on Clean Energy Is 'Irresponsible'
2010-10-16 06:58:29.471 GMT
By Bloomberg News
Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- A complaint from the United
Steelworkers union in the U.S. about China's clean energy
policies is "groundless" and "irresponsible," China's
Ministry of Commerce said.
China will protect its own interests according to the World
Trade Organization's rules, the ministry said in a statement
posted today on its website. The U.S. government's agreement to
investigate the case is a "wrong" trade protectionism signal,
the ministry said.
The case escalates commercial strains between the U.S. and
China, its second-largest trading partner. Trade tensions grew
as President Barack Obama criticized China's currency policy and
the House of Representatives passed legislation targeting
imports from China as a way to prod Chinese leaders into raising
the value of the yuan.
The U.S. acted on a complaint from the steelworkers union
that the China's aid to its clean-energy producers violates
global trade rules. Accepting the petition may lead the Obama
administration to file a protest at the World Trade Organization.
"Green technology will be an engine for the jobs of the
future, and this administration is committed to ensuring a level
playing field," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said
yesterday, announcing the decision.
The complaint, called a Section 301 filing, is the first
filed and accepted by Obama's administration after his
predecessor, Republican George W. Bush, turned down trade
complaints against China.
Lawmaker Support
Lawmakers such as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of
California and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander
Levin, a Michigan Democrat, praised the U.S. plan to review the
subsidies.
"By accepting the petition the Steelworkers filed against
China's predatory and protectionist policies, it sends the
message that America is not going to stand by while our jobs get
outsourced," union President Leo Gerard said in a statement.
China and the U.S. have pushed development of wind, solar
and clean-energy technologies, offering tax breaks and
government aid to spur projects. That aid doesn't violate WTO
rules, Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in
Washington, said yesterday.
"The environment-friendly green technology policies
introduced by the Chinese government are for the purpose of
energy protection and ensuring sustainable development, which
are in conformity with WTO rules," Wang said in an e-mail.
The Steelworkers said in their filing to the trade office
last month that illegal export credits, preferences in bidding,
the forced transfer of technology and discrimination against
foreign firms give Chinese producers of renewable-energy
products an unfair advantage.
China Bank
China Development Bank, a state-owned lender, has said it
plans to lend more than $42 billion to support expansion of
solar manufacturers and wind-turbine makers.
Kirk said his office will examine and verify aspects of the
complaint. If the practices warrant it, the U.S. would file a
case at the WTO after the 90-day review, he said.
"For those allegations that are supported by sufficient
evidence and that can effectively be addressed through WTO
dispute settlement, we will vigorously pursue the enforcement of
our rights through WTO litigation," Kirk said.
In a separate decision yesterday, the U.S. International
Trade Commission ruled that U.S. Steel Corp. and companies
making steel pipes used in oil refineries and chemical plants
are being harmed by imports from China. The decision means that
duties that could average more than 100 percent will be imposed
on $182 million worth of the pipes from China.
The decision by the trade panel is the last of four that
producers such as U.S. Steel and the U.S. subsidiary of France's
Vallourec SA, the world's second-largest maker of steel tubes
for oil and gas production, needed to win to get dumping and
countervailing duties imposed on Chinese exporters.
For Related News and Information:
Wind Stories: NI WIND <GO>
Carbon-market events: ECAL <GO>
Top stories on regulation and business: GBIZ <GO>
A-Power's financial analysis: APWR US <Equity> CH1 Q <GO>
--Mark Drajem, Huang Zhe, Editors: Paul Tighe, Keith Gosman
To contact the reporters on this story:
Zhe Huang in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7552 or
zhuang37@bloomberg.net;
Mark Drajem in Washington at +1-202-624-1964 or
mdrajem@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Tighe at +612-9777-8626 or
ptighe@bloomberg.net
