COSCO CEO urges open trade for service sector

COSCO CEO urges open trade for service sector

Jaifu

   The Obama administration's decision last month to impose a 35 percent tariff on imports of Chinese-made passenger and light truck tires 'is not a sensible way to resolve trade disputes,' Capt. Wei Jiafu, chief executive officer of Chinese Ocean Shipping Co., said Monday in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
   The U.S. government set the tariff, which ratchets down in the second and third years of the order, to help stem losses in the domestic tire manufacturing sector that coincided with a tripling of low-cost Chinese tire imports since 2004.
   China is not interested in dumping tires on the U.S. market and fairly gained market share because of the quality and low price of its tires, Wei said.
   The tariff is a form of protectionism that eventually will hurt American consumers, he added.
   Wei is in the United States in his capacity as chairman of the China Association of Trade in Services (CATIS), a two-year-old organization that represents major service sectors such as shipping, logistics, banking, insurance and publishing. It has almost 200 members. The Chinese delegation is visiting several U.S. cities to promote trade in services between the two countries.
   CATIS and counterpart organizations in the United States should work together to remove barriers that prevent service companies from freely operating in other countries and support a 'fair, transparent and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system,' Wei said.
   Trade liberalization in the service sector has proven to be one of the more difficult areas for negotiators to agree on during years of Doha round talks sponsored by the World Trade Organization.
   Wei also said that Chinese and American trade associations should play a bigger role to help resolve trade disputes before they escalate at the governmental level.
   The shipping executive expressed confidence that the global recession has hit bottom and the global economy is beginning to recover thanks to emergency government spending in China, the United States and Europe.
   Last week the Chinese government reported that third quarter Gross Domestic Product accelerated to 8.9 percent and that its 8 percent target for the entire year is achievable.
   In response to an audience question, Wei said he has verified that all 25 crewmembers aboard a COSCO dry bulk vessel captured by Somali pirates on Oct. 19 are in good health. The Panamax bulker was carrying 70,000 tons of coal from South Africa to India when it was attacked 700 miles east of Somalia. It is the furthest from land than any vessel has been captured by Somali pirates. The company and the government will work to safely rescue the crew, he added. ' Eric Kulisch