Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (5188)	6/23/2001 12:33:21 AM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 74559

Not to worry ... blink blink ... biz.scmp.com QUOTE Saturday, June 23, 2001 Tokyo seeks trade talks China's tit-for-tat import curbs show parties jockeying for negotiated settlement, say analysts PEGGY SITO and AGENCIES Japan has asked China to hold bilateral talks early next week to resolve the escalating trade dispute between the two countries. The dispute centres on China's punitive tariffs on Japanese imports in retaliation for Tokyo's import curbs on three farm products from the mainland. Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma said his invitation to China to engage in talks was a recognition of the "important relationship" between the two countries. But Mr Hiranuma said Tokyo did not intend to lift tariffs imposed in April on a range of Chinese farm products. He stressed, however, that the dispute would not affect Japanese support for China's entry to the World Trade Organisation. China on Thursday overcame its differences with the European Commission to reach agreement on its bid to join the WTO. Yoshinobu Nisaka, deputy director-general of the ministry's trade policy bureau, said Japan was ready to send a senior official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to Beijing for the talks early next week. The official is expected to be Tadakatsu Sano, chief of the ministry's international trade policy bureau, according to Kyodo News. Japan's push to settle the intensifying trade row came after China said on Thursday it would impose 100 per cent extra tariffs on imports of 60 varieties of Japanese products from three different categories of goods - motor vehicles, mobile phones and air-conditioners. This was the most serious trade threat by China since Japan temporarily raised tariffs on Chinese stone leeks, shiitake mushrooms and tatami rushes in April. Analysts have estimated the value of the goods China is targeting at US$500 million to US$700 million. Japan's exports to China in the year to December last year were US$41.51 billion, up 22.9 per cent year on year, according to Xinhua news agency. China's exports to Japan rose 28.5 per cent year on year last year to US$41.65 billion. China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (Moftec) would not comment on Japan's proposal, but Reuters quoted a Moftec official as saying Beijing was ready for a negotiated solution. "We hope that both sides can resolve the problem through consultations," the official said. Following Beijing's announcement on the import tariffs, Tokyo immediately lodged a protest on Thursday night and demanded these be rescinded. "Such an action cannot be justified in the light of both the World Trade Organisation and Japan-China trade treaties," he said. But China said the retaliatory measures taken by Beijing were based on a domestic law that allowed the country to levy special tariffs when Chinese products incurred discriminative trade treatment. Analysts said the tit-for-tat penalties appeared to show the two countries positioning for a solution. "There will be lots of shouting . . . at the end, they will come up with a deal," said Ken Davies, chief economist and bureau chief of EIU Asia. Mr Davies said China's measures were a symbolic move to push Japan to the negotiating table. UNQUOTE

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (5188)	6/24/2001 9:05:33 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Hi Joel, a fair editorial from FT on the subject news.ft.com QUOTE Editorial comment: China retaliates Published: June 24 2001 17:44GMT \| Last Updated: June 24 2001 17:46GMT China's trading partners should be warned. Beijing will robustly defend its interests when it joins the World Trade Organisation, possibly by the end of this year. Its recent imposition of punitive tariffs on a range of Japanese imports, in retaliation against increased Japanese tariffs on vegetables from China, suggests China's trade mandarins are taking a more assertive stance now that WTO entry is in sight. Neither side can take pride in its conduct but Japan's actions are particularly reprehensible. Technically, its decision in April to slap punitive duties on shiitake mushrooms, spring onions and other imports from China may be compatible with WTO rules. However, it is inexcusable. Once again, a Japanese government has caved in to the protectionist demands of small farmers, influential supporters of the ruling Liberal Democratic party: this time, it is because it needs their loyalty in a difficult Upper House election next month. Economically, Japan is shooting itself in the foot. Much of the produce hit by the new duties is grown on farms owned by Japanese trading companies, which have been encouraged to invest in China by its low production costs. Penalising them is also a slap in the face for Japanese consumers, who must now pay more for staple ingredients of their national diet. This incident reflects poorly on the Koizumi government's commitment to reform. It is a dismal reminder that the steady decline in the size of Japan's farming population has not diminished its power to frustrate agricultural liberalisation - an issue that will be at the centre of any future world trade round. Furthermore, the affair sends all the wrong signals to China, as it prepares to grapple with the huge task of implementing WTO rules and disciplines. Meeting WTO commitments will require Beijing to stand up firmly to protectionist forces at home. That will not be made easier when Japan, a self-professed champion of multilateralism, capitulates so easily to special interests in the hope of currying electoral favour. It is all the more regrettable that the affair coincides with US threats to appease protectionist domestic lobbies by curbing steel imports. If the WTO's biggest members want China to embrace free market principles and live by global rules, they must lead by example. Japan should scrap its punitive tariffs on Chinese goods. It should do so no later than this autumn, when the duties are due to be reviewed. Otherwise, there is a risk that the dispute will escalate and end up costing both sides - and the world trade system - far more than the trivial economic interests at stake. UNQUOTE

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (5188)	7/6/2001 2:34:54 AM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Hi Joel, No Chinese mushrooms allowed, but maybe OK for Chinese cellular phones, until that is not OK either, then global spiral og protectionism and decay ... I see a genuine problem coming up soon, as Taiwan, Europe and Japan all race to speed up transferring their respective trade surpluses with the US from themselves to China, and then the US reacting, and then ... nni.nikkei.co.jp QUOTE Friday, July 6, 2001 Japanese Cell Phone Makers To Expand China Output TOKYO (Nikkei)--Major cellular phone manufactures are set to expand production in China, with Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. (6781), Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (6503) and NEC Corp. (6701) planning to double output in fiscal 2001 from the previous year, sources at the companies said. Toshiba Corp. (6502) plans to establish a plant in China next spring. The moves to raise local production coincide with rapid growth in the cell phone market in China, in contrast to the Europe and U.S. markets where demand is receding. Cell phone makers also hope to take advantage of a freer operating climate when regulations on foreign companies are removed after China joins the World Trade Organization as expected this year. Mitsubishi Electric aims to raise annual cell phone production to 1.2 million units from 500,000 units last fiscal year. The company will make use of the plant of a major electrical machinery maker in Zhejiang Province, with which its local manufacturing arm will form a capital tie-up by the end of the month. NEC will increase annual output to 1 million units at its local joint venture in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in line with the autumn release of foldable model handsets on the Chinese market. Matsushita Communication also intends to raise annual production at its local unit in Beijing to 2 million units from 1.2 million units in fiscal 2000. Toshiba has applied to the Chinese government for approval to turn a joint R&D venture in Nanjing, Jingsu Province, into a cell phone manufacturing operation. The joint venture is expected to build a factory by next spring, with investment and production figures yet to be decided. The number of cell phone users in China topped 100 million at the end of March this year. Handset sales in calendar 2000 are estimated to have doubled to more than 50 million from a year earlier. Some manufacturers expect China to become the world's largest cell phone market in the second half of fiscal 2001. Meanwhile, the 100% tariff on Japanese mobile phone imports that took effect from June 22 has begun hurting some PHS (personal handyphone system) makers, including Kyocera Corp. (6971) and Sanyo Electric Co. (6764), which export PHS handsets from Japan. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Friday evening edition) UNQUOTE