China remains the biggest victim of trade protectionism

On January 16, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shen Danyang stated that 19 countries and regions initiated trade remedy investigations against my country throughout 2013, with a total of 92 cases, an increase of 17.9% over 2012. Judging from the number of cases initiated, the growth is rapid. Among them, there are 71 anti-dumping investigations, 14 countervailing investigations and 7 safeguard measures. In addition, the United States has launched 19 “337” investigations against my country, one more than the 18 cases in 2012. In addition to the sharp increase in the number of cases filed in developed economies, the number of cases filed in emerging industrial countries and developing countries is also on the rise. Among them, the data should be based on the data released by the WTO. Judging from the comparison of currently available data, China will be the country that has encountered the most anti-dumping investigations for 18 consecutive years and the country that has encountered the most countervailing investigations for 8 consecutive years. China is still a trade protectionist country. the biggest victim country.
In recent years, especially since the international financial crisis, the pace of economic recovery in some countries has been slow, the concept of free trade has weakened, and trade protectionism has increased significantly. At the same time, because the layout of my country’s foreign trade export market is not balanced enough, export products are more competitive than products from developed and developing countries to varying degrees, which can easily lead to trade frictions.
Generally speaking, trade friction is a phenomenon associated with my country becoming the world’s second largest economy and the largest exporter. It is inevitable, long-term and complex. Our work mainly has two aspects. On the one hand, it is to deal with foreign countries. On the other hand, the response to trade protection is to protect our country’s industries. In terms of friction response, last year our country effectively responded to a number of major cases involving large amounts of money and wide impact, such as the China-EU photovoltaic trade friction, and protected the export market share of enterprises. The early warning mechanism for trade frictions has been strengthened, and work in public information services and the popularization of trade remedy knowledge has been significantly strengthened. Properly utilizing the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises, a number of cases last year achieved satisfactory results. Through dialogue, consultation and management of differences, we not only give full play to the role of the intergovernmental trade remedy consultation mechanism with major trading partners, but also strive to maintain a stable and predictable trade environment with developing countries. It has strengthened legal technical guidance services for enterprises, supported Chinese enterprises in using legal rights to protect their rights, and supported relevant business associations and foreign industries in exchanges.
In terms of unfair competition against imported products, industrial security and the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises are safeguarded by conducting trade remedy investigations. Last year, my country launched 11 anti-dumping investigations involving 6 imported products, and launched 1 anti-subsidy investigation involving 1 imported product. At present, my country’s trade remedy legal and regulatory system is relatively complete, and the investigation capabilities and levels are constantly improving. By filing and investigating cases in accordance with the law, we promptly curbed the import of unfairly competitive products and made positive contributions to ensuring industrial security and national economic security.