USA: WASHINGTON: TRADE SANCTIONS ON CHINA UPDATE

Описание: (15 May 1996) English/Nat

The United States has announced it will impose huge sanctions on China from next month unless Beijing stops pirating U-S goods.

The sanctions, worth about three (b) billion U-S dollars, would mainly target Chinese textiles and electronics.

Beijing immediately vowed to retaliate in kind against American imports, sparking fears of a trade war between the two countries.

China last year signed an agreement with the United States to stop piracy of goods protected by copyright, such as CDs, videos and computer software.

The United States announced it was carrying out its threats to place costly sanctions on Chinese products as punishment for pirating U-S goods.

The U-S Trade Department released a list of three (b) billion dollars' worth of Chinese goods to be hit with 100 percent import duties if China does not halt the piracy of videos, CDs and computer software.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

When China pirates American products it is taking the ideas, the enterprise and the jobs of these industries and the workers they represent. We will not tolerate this.
SUPER CAPTION: Charlene Barshefsky - U-S Trade Representative

Textiles and electronics - among China's biggest exports - would be hit hardest. The punitive tariffs would effectively price those goods out of
the market.

The tariffs will be imposed as from June 17 to allow affected American businesses to lobby for changes and for Beijing to effectively tackle piracy of U-S goods.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

Right now we've indicated we are publishing a preliminary retaliation list. We expect agreements entered into to be lived up to. We also believe as a matter of U-S policy and national interest the United States must demand compliance with trade agreements with foreign countries or these agreements at the end of the day will not provide the benefits to the United States we thought we had bargained for.
SUPER CAPTION: Charlene Barshefsky - U-S Trade Representative

Under a February 1995 agreement with Washington, Beijing pledged to shut down all factories producing unlicensed videos, CDs and computer software and give U-S companies, greater access to China's domestic market.

Washington claims that Beijing has failed to do both.

Industry groups say Beijing lacks the political will to close down the offending factories.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

These plants are there, they know where they are, they know how to stop the production, to date they have simply been politically unwilling to take the kind of action necessary to do this and we are hopeful that because this is so much in China's own interests they cannot continue to live in the world's community from theft of other people's property.
SUPER CAPTION: Eric Smith - President of Intellectual Property Alliance.

China immediately vowed to retaliate sparking fears of a trade war with the U-S.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

I think it is probable that if the United States put sanctions into effect the Chinese will carry through on their end of the threatening see-saw and impose sanctions of their own. Those would affect U-S exports to China and possibly, although we don't know yet, possibly the future of some U-S investment projects in China.
SUPER CAPTION: Robert Kapp - President U-S-China Business Council

Beijing has also accused Washington of not abiding by its promise in the 1995 agreement to back China's application to join the World Trade Organization.

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