China said yesterday it would challenge a WTO ruling against its restrictions on imported films, books and audio-visual products, continuing its sparring with Washington over trade access.
Beijing said last week it may appeal against the WTO panel’s ruling, which upheld key parts of a US complaint about China’s controls on cultural products, which Washington said hurt publishers, Hollywood and entertainment multinationals.
Now a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has said that appeal will certainly go ahead.
“We think it was improper for the WTO not to reject the US request,” the spokesman, Yao Jian (姚堅), told a news conference in Beijing. “Based on the WTO schedule, we are preparing the documents necessary to lodge an appeal.”
Yao did not give any other details of China’s appeal.
The continued dispute will add to the trade friction pitting Beijing against Washington.
US President Barack Obama must decide by Sept. 17 whether to restrict imports of car and light truck tires from China in a case that could unleash a flood of requests from other industries if he gives the nod.
The US trade deficit with China totaled US$103 billion in the first half of the year, down 13 percent from last year, but still a source of tension between the two.
The WTO panel said last week that China’s import and distribution regime for books and films breaks international trade rules, as well as the terms of China’s entry to the WTO in 2001, and should be revised.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
RSS