As the Financial Times reported this morning, the Bush administration may soon file a case against China in the WTO to challenge export restrictions on raw materials used in steel-making and other industries.

According to the Financial Times’ James Politi, China’s export quotas and taxes on raw materials used in steel production “artificially deflate domestic prices and inflate global prices, putting US producers at a disadvantage in violation of WTO rules.”

Filing such a case would be an important step in addressing U.S.-China trade relations.  Even more compelling, though, would be a look at the massive energy subsidies that China provides for its steel producers.  According to a report issued by AAM earlier this year, those subsidies have been conservatively estimated at more than $27 billion since 2000.  Such massive subsidization no doubt is distorting global trade flows and has adversely affected U.S. producers.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable, Enforcing Trade Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.