Trade protectionism may resurface, and companies should face trade frictions head-on
At the 104th Canton Fair, many exhibitors worried that as the international financial crisis deepens and spreads its impact on the real economy, some countries may raise the banner of trade protectionism in order to protect their national industries and maintain employment. Adding barriers to exports by Chinese companies may further intensify trade friction with my country.
The industry calls on my country to, while encouraging companies to export, also alert companies to the undercurrent of trade risks. Moreover, as the economic outlook becomes uncertain, our country must also be fully prepared to establish a fast and efficient international trade friction response mechanism and a foreign trade early warning mechanism, so as to gain the initiative for enterprises to deal with trade frictions.
The economies of trading partners are slowing down, and companies are worried about increasing frictions
In the booth of Qingdao Tonghui Liguang Wax Products Co., Ltd., there are colorful candles. According to the person in charge of the company, these candles are mainly sold to Europe and the United States, but now he hopes to sell candles to more countries and regions. This is because candle manufacturers in Germany, the Netherlands and other countries began to complain in February this year that their interests were harmed by the pricing of their Chinese counterparts. Currently, Europe has launched an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese candle exports.
“In fact, this is mainly caused by the European economic downturn.” The person in charge of a foreign trade company operating candles in Tianjin believes. In recent years, the export price of candles has remained stable, and there has been no low-price dumping. This practice in Europe is only to provide European candle manufacturers with living space and reduce unemployment.
At the same time, many hardware exhibitors are also anxiously awaiting the final results of the EU’s anti-dumping ruling on my country’s fasteners. Chen Yong, a salesperson at a hardware company in Suzhou, said that if it needs to pay huge anti-dumping duties, the company will consider withdrawing from the European market. The current slowdown in European economic growth, declining consumption power, and falling prices of raw materials such as steel have made them even less optimistic about the final outcome.
In addition to these products, this year only in the field of steel products, the European Commission has successively initiated actions on cold-rolled stainless steel plates, prestressed steel strands, wire rods, fasteners, seamless steel pipes and other steel products produced in China. Anti-dumping investigation. The United States continues to launch anti-dumping investigations against my country in the steel field. The industry believes that if the U.S. economy stagnates and the U.S.-China trade deficit continues to rise, some trade protectionists in the United States will still use Section 421 to make a big fuss.
Since the beginning of this year, affected by the economic downturn, the protectionist tendency of abusing anti-dumping has become increasingly apparent. According to statistics, the number of newly launched anti-dumping investigations in the first half of this year increased by 39% compared with the same period in 2007. Among them, the number of anti-dumping investigations against Chinese export products is high, with 37 of the 85 newly opened investigations targeting Chinese products. There are also many new anti-dumping measures against Chinese exports, with 13 of the 54 new measures targeting Chinese products.
It is reported that the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce also stated during a special survey at the 104th Canton Fair that the shrinking consumer market caused by the financial crisis has had an impact on China’s exports, but we must be particularly vigilant that in this process, countries In order to support the domestic economy, various strict protective measures will be taken, which will bring about the resurgence of trade protectionism.
The rise of trade protectionism hurts Chinese companies
Banking scholar Cheng Yongru said in an interview with the media that the financial crisis may give rise to new trade protectionism. China has always been one of the countries with more trade frictions in the world. In this case, it is even more necessary to be vigilant and prevent our country from exporting Products can easily become scapegoats.
In fact, trade friction has brought huge export pressure to relevant enterprises in my country. Take air compressors as an example. The EU is my country’s largest export market for air compressors. However, starting from March 21, 2008, the EU imposed an anti-dumping tax of up to 77.6% on Chinese-made air compressors. Affected by this, in April this year – In July, my country’s air compressor exports to the EU fell by 12.9%, while in the first quarter, my country’s air compressor exports to the EU increased by 18.8%.
If trade friction intensifies, then Chinese companies will suffer the most. Xiao Yaofei, a professor at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, analyzed that in the past decade or so, China has been one of the countries that has suffered more trade frictions. Basically, there are several main reasons:
First of all, my country’s export capabilities are very strong and its market share is expanding very quickly, which brings about many contradictions. At the same time, my country’s product structure is low and Chinese products with low added value can easily become the focus of restrictions.
Secondly, China’s trade pattern is unbalanced, causing our country to become a source of large trade deficits for many trading partners. Some countries with large surpluses will adopt various trade protection measures to ask China to solve the problem. According to statistics, China’s trade volume with Europe in 2007 was 230 billion euros, while Europe’s trade volume with China was 72 billion euros.�, the trade deficit further expanded.
Face the crisis and maintain steady export growth
The impact of the financial crisis on the economy may lead to trade protectionism in some countries, and China’s exports will face a more severe environment and challenges. Therefore, industry experts suggest that China must be fully prepared to promote stable export growth from the following aspects .
First of all, Chinese companies need to face the crisis head-on and improve both internally and externally. From an internal perspective, enterprises are guided to tap potential and reduce costs by strengthening supply chain management and improving internal corporate governance structures; at the same time, they seize the time to transform and upgrade, innovate products, and ensure that the quality of exported products meets the standards set by the other party. From an external perspective, it guides companies to seek breakthroughs and reduce risks through product diversification and market diversification.
Secondly, relevant departments should respond to the technology, environmental protection and other standards of different countries, strengthen training for enterprises, guide enterprises to respond to various standards, and solve problems for enterprises. At the same time, the guiding and supervisory role of industry associations should be brought into play to achieve healthy and orderly competition in the industry. Export companies should be careful not to focus too much on exports just because the other party’s market is good, causing a large number of products to flood into foreign markets in a short period of time. In particular, we must avoid over-concentration in developing emerging markets to prevent encountering trade barriers in emerging markets.
In addition, for trade frictions that have already occurred, Chinese companies’ active response is a good way to safeguard their rights and interests. At the same time, it is also necessary for relevant departments and relevant associations to convene the companies involved in the case to discuss countermeasures, and encourage and support companies to participate in responding to the lawsuit.
AAMHCGVVBEW
Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: Some of the texts, pictures, audios, and videos of some articles published on this site are from the Internet and do not represent the views of this site. The copyrights belong to the original authors. If you find that the information reproduced on this website infringes upon your rights, please contact us and we will change or delete it as soon as possible.
AA
