Trade: U.S. intensifies auto spat with China
The U.S. escalated an ongoing trade skirmish with China this week, pushing the issue of auto exports onto the presidential campaign trail, said Howard Schneider and Amy Gardner in The Washington Post. The U.S. filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization alleging that China unfairly subsidized its auto and auto-parts manufacturers with at least $1 billion of improper assistance between 2009 and 2011. President Obama announced the move on a campaign stop in Ohio, a battleground state with tens of thousands of jobs in the auto-parts industry, and characterized the case as an attempt to level the global playing field for U.S. manufacturing.
Rhetoric aside, the case will have “little immediate impact on jobs and companies” in the U.S., said Keith Bradsher in The New York Times. WTO cases typically take a year and a half to resolve, and disputes over subsidies often end “with the losing country simply abandoning the offending policy.” Still, filing the complaint is one of the few legal responses available to the U.S. And since the WTO case targets Chinese automotive subsidies regardless of whether the exports are headed for the U.S., a win may help American auto manufacturers not only at home, but also in overseas markets.
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