AP Worldstream | March 15, 2002
Three months after joining the World Trade Organization, China said Friday it has asked the body to arrange talks over a U.S. decision to impose tarrifs on steel imports.
Premier Zhu Rongji criticized the tariffs at a news conference Friday after the close of the Chinese legislature's annual session. "Would it be acceptable to the U.S. side if I wanted to increase the import duties on soybeans from the United States by 30 percent?" he said.
U.S. President George W. Bush imposed tariffs on several types of imported steel this month in an effort to help the ailing U.S. industry.
Steel producers hardest hit include China, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine and Russia.
China applied Thursday to the WTO for talks on the issue and demanded that Washington "fix the place and the date ... as soon as possible," the Ministry of Foreign Trade said in a statement.
The state-run China Daily newspaper said it was China's first complaint to the rule-making body for world trade since it joined in December.
The trade ministry said it was "deeply shocked" by the tariffs.
"This decision not only goes against the WTO rules, but also will have a serious impact on China's normal steel exports to the United States, hence causing huge losses to the steel makers," its statement said.
Also Friday, Japan said it is prepared to file its own WTO complaint on Wednesday, the day the tariffs take effect.AP Worldstream:
