CCOIC Calls for Trade Facilitation

China Chamber of International Com- merce (CCOIC) is urging facilitation in international trade as trade protectionism is prevalent in the world.

In the past decade， statistics show that antidumping duties and countervailing duties across the world are mainly aimed at China-made goods. And the sanctions have the tendency to shift to economic， technical and new barriers in the name of environmental protection and other forms from anti-dumping and countervailing， Zhang Wei， Vice Chairman of the CCOIC， told China’s Foreign Trade in an interview.

In the solar panel sector， the final ruling by the Commerce Department of the United States recently levied anti-dumping duties ranging from 18.32 percent to 249.96 percent on billions of dollars of solar panels and cells from China. Furthermore， it set countervailing duties from 14.78 percent to 15.97 percent， complaining that Chinese rivals have enjoyed considerable government subsidies， according to a Xinhua report.

China’s Ministry of Commerce expressed strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. ruling， saying it “signals protectionism” and “hinders the development of new energy.”

Chinese enterprises should bear in mind that nowadays trade protectionism in various forms is becoming a normal occurrence and should rest at ease through cooperation with the government and relative organizations， said Zhang. “A single firm may not have the ability to deal with trade protectionism. Only by means of cooperation between government and enterprise could the result be efficient.”

He said usually there are two ways for fair trade: one is through government which deals with tariff and non-tariff barriers; the other is through the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)， which deals with formulation of fair trade and trade rules among enterprises.

The CCOIC has served as the National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) since China’s accession into the ICC in 1994.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the CCOIC， on behalf of China’s business circles， will voice their concerns and requests to safeguard their lawful rights and interests， Zhang said to China’s Foreign Trade.

Moreover， Zhang calls for the ICC to oppose trade protectionism in accordance with the aim of free trade， on behalf of the business circles around the world， in his opening speech at the World Business Leaders (Beijing) Conference held in late September.

Efforts are being made for fair trade by the ICC and CCOIC. At the forum， the ICC released its draft of the ICC world trade agenda in business circles， which aimed at facilitating cooperation between business sectors and governments， jointly shaping the new world trade talks agenda， thus breaking the deadlock in the Doha talks.

Gerard Worms， Chairman of the ICC， said that the agenda is significant in dealing with trade protectionism. It needs a lot of world large economies to play their roles in breaking the stalemate on Doha trade talks. However， the G20 seems not to have made significant contribution to the elimination of trade barriers. The ICC wishes to strengthen dialogue with the G20 and urges it to set an example in trade openness and improve the trade environment.

The key content of the agenda is about agreement on trade facilitation. It is helpful to reduce trade cost by a wide margin， accelerate and simplify administrative and other official procedures， as well as build a more transparent， predictable and efficient trade environment， said Lin Shunjie， Deputy Secretary General of the CCOIC.

The draft also includes an inclusive propose for fair trade， which calls for the WTO to reform the dispute settlement mechanism and let the world business circles participate in the discussion of the rationality of the mechanism and reform projects in the future.

The CCOIC will organize member enterprises to participate in the discussion of the agenda which may affect the formulation of intergovernmental trade rules， said Lin.