NORTH AMERICA

US presses WTO cases against ChinaThe US has stepped up its campaign against China’s trade policies， asking for two cases against Beijing to be referred for arbitration at the World Trade Organization.Washington alleges that China is breaking WTO rules in restricting foreign credit card companies’ access to its payments system and imposing illegal emergency import subsidies against US steel.The US started the cases at the WTO last September， and on February 11 said that attempts to resolve the dispute through negotiation with China had failed. The next stage of the process is for the WTO to convene a judicial panel， with a ruling likely to take in between one and two years.Washington has brought an increasing number of WTO cases against China in recent years， some of which were resolved by negotiation before a panel ruled on the issue. Barack Obama’s administration has emphasized the need to enforce current trade agreements as a precursor to signing new deals.Ron Kirk， US trade representative， said that China continued to grant a monopoly to China UnionPay， a payment settlement service， for domestic payments in China and imposed regulations that unfairly benefited China UnionPay in transactions in foreign currency.“Removal of the monopoly that China has provided to China UnionPay would create significantly expanded business opportunities in China’s huge and growing market for American suppliers of this essential service，” he said.The US also continued to dispute China’s use of anti-dumping and countervailing duties against imports of American steel deemed to be unfairly priced and illegally state-subsidized， respectively. China imposed antidumping duties ranging from 7.8 per cent to 64.8 per cent and countervailing duties of between 11.7 per cent and 44.6 per cent on a form of steel used in power stations.But Washington said that China’s imposition of the duties broke WTO rules as it had not shown its calculations or sufficient evidence to justify the move.“We are troubled by the procedures and decisionmaking employed by China in its trade remedy investigations， which have now led to serious restrictions on exports of American steel，” Mr Kirk said.A spokesman at the Chinese embassy in Washington said that Beijing “has been faithfully carrying out its WTO obligations” and said that Beijing would “defend the legitimate interests of Chinese industries”. (Financial Times)MOFCOM released preliminary ruling on anti-dumping investigation on imports of dispersion unshifted single-mode optical fiberThe Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) released on February 9 its preliminary ruling on anti-dumping investigation on Dispersion Unshifted Single-Mode Optical Fiber imports in Announcement No.4， 2011. Findings of the investigation confirm that dumping exists in Dispersion Unshifted Single-Mode Optical Fiber imports from US and EU， and has caused material injury to China’s Dispersion Unshifted Single-Mode Optical Fiber industry， and there exists a causal relationship between dumping and material injury， deciding to take anti-dumping measures， and deposits are required for such imports. According to the ruling， importers of such products originated from US and EU should place， starting from February 18， deposits at Chinese Customs in accordance with the dumping margin (4.7% to 29.1%). Tariff number of the product is 90011000 under Import and Export Tariffs of the People’s Republic of China. (MOFCOM)US tariff on magnesium to remainThe United States has decided to continue its existing anti-dumping duty over magnesium from China， but would revoke the same order on imports of this product from Russia， the US International Trade Commission said.In a statement issued on February 10， the ITC said revoking the existing antidumping duty order on magnesium from China would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. However， it would not likely to have similar impacts in Russia’s case.The ITC’s decision means the existing tariff on imports of this product from China will remain in place.The US slapped the tariff between 49.66 percent and 141.49 percent on Chinese magnesium exports in April 2005. Under the Uruguay Round Agreement Act， there is a fiveyear review process and tariffs may be revoked unless the country deems doing so would continue to hurt the industry.In July， the US Department of Commerce decided to resume this duty.China suffered 64 cases of trade disputes in 2010 involving export value of about US$7 billion. (Shanghai Daily)US slaps 450% duty on China steel pipesChinese steel pipe makers face duties of up to 450 percent after a United States trade panel ruled some drill-pipe imports from China threaten American firms.The US International Trade Commission on February 8 cleared the way for the US Commerce Department to impose both antidumping and countervailing measures on drill pipes and drill collars， used in the oil industry， from China.In January， the US Commerce Department approved final antidumping duty rates of between 69 percent to 429.95 percent on a number of Chinese steel pipe makers. Shanghaibased Baoshan Iron and Steel Co.， and another Chinese firm escaped being hit by the duties.The department also set an 18.18 percent countervailing duty， used to offset alleged Chinese government subsidies， for all Chinese drill pipe makers and exporters.(Shanghai Daily)China unloads more US debt holdingsChina reduced its holdings of US treasury bonds in December 2010 for the second straight month， but analysts said it is market-based short-term move and would not substantially change the country’s foreign exchange reserves basket.The biggest buyer of US treasury debt cut its holdings by 0.4 percent to $892 billion， the US Treasury Department said on February 13， after unloading $11.2 billion to $895.6 billion in November 2010.Before that， China had increased its portfolio for four straight months.“Since the financial crisis， China has been trying to adjust the investment structure of its foreign reserves to control risks. As the dollar rebounded in the last two months， it might be a market strategy to sell the debt for the time being，” said Wang Jun， economist at China Center for International Economic Exchanges.Although China is still the largest foreign holder of the US debt， the difference in its holdings in relation to Japan’s， the second-largest， has shrunk from $123.8 billion at the beginning of 2010 to about $8 billion by the year’s end.China has vowed to diversify its $2.85 trillion foreignexchange reserves portfolio to counter risks and keep the value of the assets.The large amount of foreign reserves will increasingly challenge the nation’s foreign exchange asset management， said Yi Gang， vice-governor of the central bank and head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange， in January.Wang said other debt-purchase options cannot match the strength and security of US debt in the short term， although the government is well aware of the necessity to diversify to lower the risks.In December 2010， foreign holdings of Treasury securities rose 0.6 percent to $4.37 trillion. Japan increased its holdings by 0.7 percent to $883.6 billion in December， followed by Britain， which boosted its holdings by 5.8 percent to $541.3 billion. (China Daily)Huawei set back on deal in U.S.A U.S. panel has decided Huawei Technologies Co. should divest itself of a small technology company the Chinese telecom-equipment maker bought in May.Huawei said it was told by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that if it does not shed the acquired company， the committee will recommend to U.S. President Barack Obama that the deal be unraveled.Huawei has decided to take its chances with the president， who doesn’t have to act on the recommendation， said Bill Plummer， vice president for government affairs for Huawei USA.“We have great respect for the process，” said Mr Plummer， adding that the company was willing to negotiate a broad national-security agreement that could alleviate concerns from some officials. “To withdraw and divest would have tarnished our brand and reputation.”The Treasury Department， which typically takes the lead on CFIUS matters， declined to comment， saying that by law， information filed with CFIUS can’t be disclosed.CFIUS laid out the options after concluding its review of Huawei’s purchase of U.S. start-up 3Leaf Systems， which created technology allowing groups of computers to work together like a more-powerful machine. The Chinese gear maker has said it initially failed to disclose the $2 million deal because it didn’t think it was necessary given it only purchased some assets， such as intellectual property， and hired some employees.When Pentagon officials found out about the deal， they took the unusual step of asking the company to file retroactively for a review by CFIUS， an interagency committee that examines acquisitions by foreign companies that may pose a national-security risk.CFIUS doesn’t release information about companies under review， but a person familiar with the process has said presidents have vetoed foreign transactions only two or three times. Typically， a company will withdraw its application if it gets an indication the committee will recommend against a deal， but Huawei in this case completed the deal without first seeking approval.Under the deal， Huawei hired 15 3Leaf employees， bought several former 3Leaf patents and purchased the startup’s servers out of bankruptcy.Huawei has repeatedly denied links to the Chinese military and says it is ready to open its equipment to inspection to satisfy security concerns. Huawei has decided to take its chances with the president， who doesn’t have to act on the recommendation. (Wall Street Journal)PetroChina announces 5.43 bln USD investment in Canadian gas projectPetroChina Co. Ltd.， China’s largest oil producer， announced on February 10 that it has agreed to buy a 50-percent stake in a natural gas project with North American gas giant Encana Corporation for 5.4 billion Canadian dollars (5.43 billion U.S. dollars).The cooperation agreement between Encana and PetroChina International Investment Company Limited， a subsidiary of PetroChina， allows PetroChina to acquire a 50-percent interest in Encana’s Cutbank Ridge business assets in British Columbia and Alberta， Canada.The assets cover 1.3 million acres of land， with a gas processing capacity of approximately 700 million cubic feet per day， 3，400 kilometers of pipelines and underground gas storage， said a statement on the PetroChina website.The two companies would form a 50-50 joint venture to increase the project’s gas production. Encana would continue to operate the joint venture’s assets and market all the production at first， said the statement.The joint venture would be operated under the direction of a joint management committee， it said.The statement said PetroChina， which is owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation， “expects the joint venture to provide a platform for entering the major market in North America.”The transaction was still waiting for regulatory approvals from the Canadian and Chinese authorities. (Xinhua)