Economic protectionism or disloyal competition? Economic war against China http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=55619 Lisandro Otero Rebelion
China today is the fourth world economy, above Great Britain, France and Italy. Only the United States, Japan and Germany surpass China. The country has become the first consumer of carbon, steel, copper, zinc and the second in oil purchases and electricity generation. The dynamism of its structures is amazing and favors a continued burst of growth that is without equal in an economy in full expansion. During 2005 it had a growth index of 10% and in 2006 it was 10,5%, Its GDP rose to 1.5 trillion euros. The World Bank has had to acknowledge the extraordinary development of China as one of the most positive phenomena of current international economy. The main problem for competitors is that China is an invincible rival with its reduced salaries and low cost technology. In the United States and the European Union there are protectionists who wish to increase import taxes to curb invasion of the markets with Chinese products. There are great interests of manufacturers lobbying to obstruct Chinese exports that damage national production. A few weeks ago, Mattel of California, forbid imports of Chinese toys claiming that they contain too much lead, potentially dangerous for children's health. These products are from factories in Guangdong, one hour to the north of Hong Kong that is the largest producers of toys in the world with almost five billion units yearly. As a result, 18 million toys were withdrawn from US markets. An economic catastrophe. The director of the industry, Lee Der, committed suicide. The Chinese consul in New York, Kuang Weilin, gave a press conference in which he stated that the Chinese government would not tolerate any form of infraction. Things didn't stop here. Also accused were coloring pencils and 27 thousand boxes of crayons were removed. Added to this were the watercolors and pastels. France went into the fray and denounced the toothpaste Trepan claiming it contained 6% of diethyl glycol that is very harmful, and used generally as an antifreeze. Also criticized were the Gilchrist and Freshdent paste. Dental cases were found to have numerous bacteria and were also whisked out of the market. The French Health Insurance Agency added to the banned lists dog and cat food, medicinal herbs, dried fruits with carcinogenic substances, antibiotic remains in honey, mercury in fish, forbidden food coloring in prepared sauce bottles. Kitchen utensils were found to have excesses of nickel, manganese and lead contaminants. The agency sent the Chinese government a list of 263 dangerous products. The World Organization of Customs declared that from 16 to 20 % of Chinese food products were dangerous to health. The Chinese government adopted a cooperative attitude and promised to fight with the United States to combat these infractions that are so harmful for exports. The World Trade Organization had designed a regimen of quotas for the manufacture of fabric that expired at the beginning of 2005. Since then the European Union and United States have been determined to wage a frontal conflict against Chinese invasion of clothing and are attempting to promote protectionist laws. The United States tried to achieve an agreement last June that would set bilateral quotas. With this strategy it aimed to win time giving local producers a chance to adapt to the fierce Chinese competition. The Europeans were not included in the pact and the result was that textile import products were frozen in customs T-shirts, trousers, blouses and braziers invaded warehouses to the tune of dozens of millions. Aware of the unscrupulousness and total absence of ethics of capitalist industrialists, raises a question: To what point are these claims true or are they the result of disloyal competition? Are US producers of toothpaste and toys interested in banning these Chinese products? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
