Subsidies

Experts Predict More CVD Cases Against China After Final Decision

Legal sources predicted this week that U.S. companies would wait until a final decision is reached in the countervailing duty case against imports of glossy paper from China before deciding to file their own CVD cases against China. According to these sources, many companies will want to see the outcome of the case before risking the legal costs associated with bringing their own CVD petition against China. These sources added that there are still "a lot of moving parts" prior...

China Rebuttal In CVD Case Likely To Focus On Loan Calculations

The Chinese government will likely fight last week's preliminary decision by the Commerce Department to impose countervailing duties in the glossy paper case by arguing that Commerce erred in handling a major element in the case, according to legal sources. Commerce considered the interest rates on loans extended to the paper industry by China's state-owned banks a key component of the subsidies it considered and offset with the preliminary CVD rates assigned to two Chinese paper companies. Specifically, China may...

Rangel, Committee Democrats Call For Tough Action On China In Advance Of NTE

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and ten other Democratic members of the panel late last week called on President Bush to step up the fight against Chinese subsidies that hurt U.S. manufacturers, including those producing steel and soda ash. These subsidies include preferential bank loans, reduced energy costs and tax abatements for exports, according to a March 29 letter to Bush sent in advance of the release of the 2007 National Trade Estimates report. These subsidies...

Preliminary CVD Decision Hits Interest Rates, Loans, Tax Breaks

Commerce's March 30 preliminary decision to apply countervailing duty (CVD) law to China in a case against imports of glossy paper partially targeted a range of subsidies cited by the petitioners while rejecting others, including many that the U.S. has raised in its formal World Trade Organization consultation request. Included in the decision are preferential Chinese grants, loans, tax breaks and export subsidies that the petitioner cited in its petition last year, with a focus on preferential interest rates given...

Commerce Makes CVD Finding Against China, Duties Range From 10 To 20 Percent

The Commerce Department announced today (March 30) that it has applied U.S. countervailing duty (CVD) law in a case against imports of glossy paper from China. Commerce said it found preliminary duties against China ranging from 10 to 20 percent against two Chinese companies, and would apply a preliminary "all others" rate of 18 percent to other Chinese imports. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told reporters today that Commerce decided to change its practice of not applying CVD law to non-market...

Commerce Expected To Make CVD Finding Against China On March 30

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is expected on March 30 to announce that Commerce has made a preliminary finding that imports of glossy paper from China are benefiting from subsidies that can be countervailed under U.S. law. Gutierrez was scheduled to make an 11 AM announcement, and several sources agreed it seemed likely that he would announce a preliminary finding against China. Sources have said the Bush Administration took up the case against China partly as a way of eliminating the...

Bayh, Collins CVD/NME Bill Tries New Approach On Subsidy Calculation

Sens. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) last week introduced a Senate version of a bill that would apply countervailing duty law to non-market economies such as China, and proposed a new variation of language on when the Commerce Department would be allowed to use third-country data to calculate subsidy rates. The legislation, S. 974, would also require congressional approval of a change in designation from non-market to market economy, which is similar to language in a House version...

China Has Option Of Suspension Agreement In CVD Case On Paper

Legal experts said this week that if the Commerce Department decides on April 2 to make the groundbreaking decision to apply countervailing duty (CVD) law against China in a case on glossy paper imports, the Chinese government almost immediately will be faced with a decision on whether to seek a suspension agreement with the U.S. According to these experts, China has an explicit right under U.S. regulations to seek a suspension agreement, and a deal could take the form of...

Senate Finance Told To Focus On Financial Services, Subsidies

A representative of the financial services industry on March 27 told the Senate Finance Committee that China needs to be pressed to allow more foreign participation in the financial services sector, and said along with other panelists that the U.S. should be more active in the World Trade Organization in fighting barriers such as subsidies. The hearing was the first session of a two-day hearing focusing on China, the second part of which will be held today (March 28) and...

Commerce Does Not Oppose Davis-English CVD Legislation

A Commerce Department official last week indicated that Commerce would not oppose a proposed change in U.S. trade remedy law that would require the application of countervailing duty (CVD) law to non-market economies (NMEs), but insisted at the same time that this legislation is not necessary because Commerce already has the authority to apply CVD law to NMEs. "Commerce has always maintained, and we believe the courts have agreed with us, that we have the statutory authority to apply the...

Pages

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive, behind-the-scenes reporting on the trade relations with China and the changes being made by the Trump administration.