Carbon Tariffs A Veil For Protectionism: China
BEIJING (AFP)--China said Wednesday it was against proposals to impose "carbon
tariffs" on goods manufactured in the developing world, saying such moves were a
pretext for trade protectionism.
Any such laws, which have been mooted in the U.S. and France, would breach
World Trade Organisation rules, said Yao Jian, a Chinese commerce ministry
spokesman.
"Behind such a policy, there is an attempt to impose trade protectionism under
the name of environmental and resource protection," Yao told reporters.
The US House of Representatives last month passed a bill that could allow
import taxes on products made in countries that do not have statutory curbs on
greenhouse gas emissions, such as China.
Some richer nations argue its industries are being punished by tough domestic
environmental laws, which encourage the shift of polluting industries to
countries with less stringent controls.
Yao said the proposal also violated the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, which
says that developing countries do not have to set specific limits on greenhouse
gas emissions.
"Therefore China is opposed to this policy," he said. "Our main concern is
that the implementation of this policy will damage developing countries'
interests."
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, who is on a three-day visit to China
with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, was due to meet Chinese Commerce Minister
Chen Deming on Wednesday.
Yao said the carbon tariffs issue would be one of the topics of the meeting.
"We would like to see fair and reasonable (international) trade policies that
will help the normal development of trade, not more trade protectionism
measures," he said.
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