From Business Week:
The U.S. move to slap Chinese glossy paper with duties on subsidy grounds changes the trade playbook”and creates further opportunities for discord
Abrupt and unilateral trade sanctions by the U.S. directed at China are scarcely a new phenomenon. Since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the U.S. has slapped dozens of anti-dumping measures on Chinese exports”such as color TVs, wooden furniture, and steel, not to mention brassieres and bath towels”and made three separate appeals to the WTO on matters regarding Chinese subsidies.
But the decision on Mar. 30 to impose countervailing duties on imports of glossy paper manufactured in China is a game-changer. It marks a significant departure from past practices and could well signal some nasty months ahead between Washington and Beijing. With the U.S. heading into a Presidential election cycle, and given a $232.5 billion trade deficit with China, hectoring the mainland on trade is a very tempting political proposition. [Full Text]
