WASHINGTON—The United Steelworkers union (USW) opposed China’s entrance into the WTO ten years ago, fearing the loss of American manufacturing jobs. Today, the steelworkers are still fighting, saying that by not adhering to WTO rules, China gets an unfair advantage over the United States.
“We fought China’s accession to the WTO because we know that they cheat and they lie and they say we want to be players and play by the rules, and they don’t,” says Gary Hubbard, a spokesperson for United Steelworkers.
In September the U.S. Trade Representative accepted a 5,800-page petition from the USW accusing China’s clean energy sector of wide-spread violations of WTO rules.
“[Trade] is not two way right now. It is all about how much [China] can dump in our market and how much the [Chinese] government can subsidize their products, exploitive of Chinese and American workers,” says Hubbard.
China’s green industries, such as solar and wind, enjoy an unusually high level of manufacturing and export subsidies, and they discriminate against foreign firms and goods, charges the USW petition.
Recently, the NY Times reported that large, cheap, land transfers and incentive driven, zero-interest loans are “the rule, not the exception, for clean energy businesses in Changsha and across China.”
For years China has benefited from U.S. technology transfers, but serious concerns remain in the United States as to whether our technology is being unfairly stolen in the process.
The investigation, which was supported by 181 members of Congress and 43 Senators, will proceed under Section 301, of the Trade Act of 1974.
Ambassador Ron Kirk, the U.S. Trade Representative, will take 90 days to investigate the long list of complaints before requesting a consultation with Chinese trade representatives. Should the two countries fail to reach an agreement, the complaint will go to a WTO dispute resolution panel in Geneva.
Hubbard says the USW often needs to make “hard decisions” to protect American jobs and families. Due to the growing chasm in trade imbalances with China, which he says are an “outrage, and unsustainable,” the union feels it has to act to hold China accountable.
Chinese officials have publicly called the USW petition a “trade war,” threatening that the United States “will not win.”
But Hubbard says, “most Americans don’t realize just how China functions, and its system. There is a chasm of difference between how the Chinese system works and how the US system works, and we are getting gouged.”
Green energy is an emerging sector in the United States. The American Investment and Recovery Act included approximately 70 bills for green energy projects.
A significant boost in green manufacturing jobs in the United States, China, and other countries needs to include accountability to the rules under WTO.
“China is not playing by the rules that they agreed to,” says Hubbard. “Even though they claim they do.”
“We fought China’s accession to the WTO because we know that they cheat and they lie and they say we want to be players and play by the rules, and they don’t,” says Gary Hubbard, a spokesperson for United Steelworkers.
In September the U.S. Trade Representative accepted a 5,800-page petition from the USW accusing China’s clean energy sector of wide-spread violations of WTO rules.
“[Trade] is not two way right now. It is all about how much [China] can dump in our market and how much the [Chinese] government can subsidize their products, exploitive of Chinese and American workers,” says Hubbard.
China’s green industries, such as solar and wind, enjoy an unusually high level of manufacturing and export subsidies, and they discriminate against foreign firms and goods, charges the USW petition.
Recently, the NY Times reported that large, cheap, land transfers and incentive driven, zero-interest loans are “the rule, not the exception, for clean energy businesses in Changsha and across China.”
For years China has benefited from U.S. technology transfers, but serious concerns remain in the United States as to whether our technology is being unfairly stolen in the process.
The investigation, which was supported by 181 members of Congress and 43 Senators, will proceed under Section 301, of the Trade Act of 1974.
Ambassador Ron Kirk, the U.S. Trade Representative, will take 90 days to investigate the long list of complaints before requesting a consultation with Chinese trade representatives. Should the two countries fail to reach an agreement, the complaint will go to a WTO dispute resolution panel in Geneva.
Hubbard says the USW often needs to make “hard decisions” to protect American jobs and families. Due to the growing chasm in trade imbalances with China, which he says are an “outrage, and unsustainable,” the union feels it has to act to hold China accountable.
Chinese officials have publicly called the USW petition a “trade war,” threatening that the United States “will not win.”
But Hubbard says, “most Americans don’t realize just how China functions, and its system. There is a chasm of difference between how the Chinese system works and how the US system works, and we are getting gouged.”
Green energy is an emerging sector in the United States. The American Investment and Recovery Act included approximately 70 bills for green energy projects.
A significant boost in green manufacturing jobs in the United States, China, and other countries needs to include accountability to the rules under WTO.
“China is not playing by the rules that they agreed to,” says Hubbard. “Even though they claim they do.”
