U.S. Trade Spat with China Unlikely to Escalates Into Trade War

By: Money_Morning

Jason Simpkins writes: Shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama announced hefty import duties on Chinese-made tires, China's Ministry of Commerce over the weekend said it would explore possible sanctions against U.S. automobile and chicken imports.

The dispute has caused some concern over an escalation in protectionist measures between the two nations, but few analysts believe the dispute will spiral out of control and threaten a global recovery.

President Obama on Friday signed an order that imposes a 35% tariff on tires imported from China on top of the existing 4% duty. The order came mainly at the behest of the United Steelworkers union, which says 5,000 union jobs have been lost since 2004 because low-cost Chinese tires flooding the market. From 2004 to 2008, the number of tire imports from China has tripled.

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) - the agency that counsels the president and Congress on trade - recommended even heavier sanctions against the tire imports. The ITC suggested a sliding tariff that would have started at 55% in the first year and then fallen to 45% next year and 35% the year after that. The duty enacted by Obama starts at the ITC's recommended low point of 35% before dropping to 30% and then 25% in the subsequent two years.

Steel companies United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) and Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), as well as trade organizations like the National Farmers Union, National Cotton Council, and the American Corn Growers Association lauded Obama's decision, as they continue to argue that low-priced Chinese goods are hurting American business.

However, other companies and trade groups who view China as a valuable export market fear Beijing will retaliate with higher import tariffs on U.S. goods. Those fears came a step closer to being realized Sunday night when China's Ministry of Commerce announced it would launch an anti-dumping investigation into auto parts and chicken products imported from the United States.

"Recently, the commerce ministry has received word from domestic industries indicating that [chicken and auto] products had entered our nation's markets via dumping, subsidies and other unfair trade means," the ministry said on its website, giving no details about the specific products.

The United States shipped about $800 million in automotive products and $376 million in chicken meat to China in the first seven months of the year, while in that time China exported $1.3 billion in tires to the United States according to data from Global Trade Information Services.

Still, this is just a miniscule fraction of the total trade between the two nations. Two-way trade between the United States and China totaled $194.7 billion in the first seven months of 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"While there's friction, I suspect that the two nations will keep any disputes under control," David Cohen, an economist at Action Economics in Singapore told Bloomberg News. "They understand that they're increasingly dependent as trading partners."

Exports to the United States account for 6% of China's total economic output, The New York Times reported.

China is Investing Billions in Renewable Energy One firm has already built China�s largest wind turbine manufacturing factory. And it�s working with the Chinese Science Academy to develop new wind, solar, and geothermal technologies� for which it will own 70% of the rights. But this company�s business reaches far beyond the Chinese border, with operations in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. It�s first quarter net income increased by 294% over a year ago. Click here for the full report.

Money Morning/The Money Map Report

©2009 Monument Street Publishing. All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the world wide web), of content from this website, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Monument Street Publishing. 105 West Monument Street, Baltimore MD 21201, Email: customerservice@moneymorning.com

Disclaimer: Nothing published by Money Morning should be considered personalized investment advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized investment advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security recommended to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after on-line publication, or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended by Money Morning should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.