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To: elmatador who wrote (72404)	2/9/2010 1:03:02 AM
From: Snowshoe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Hogging the resource... Brazil May Tax Ore Exports, Seeks More Steel Plants bloomberg.com Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been pushing Vale SA, the world’s biggest iron-ore miner, to step up investments in steelmaking and create more jobs in the country instead of sending ore abroad for processing. The government “wants more” from Vale than the $17 billion it plans to invest in Brazilian steelmaking through 2014, Lobao said. “We are thinking about imposing an export tax on iron ore and removing taxes on finished” and value-added goods such as steel and steel plates, Lobao said late yesterday in an interview at his office in Brasilia. “It makes no sense to export iron ore to China and then buy Chinese steel plates.”

To: elmatador who wrote (72404)	2/11/2010 11:11:22 PM
From: Snowshoe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Looks like the Chinese and Brazilian export taxes are "naughty, but allowed under the rules"... WTO Legal Status and Evolving Practice of Export Taxes ictsd.org The bottom line is: although general WTO rules do not discipline Members’ application of export taxes, Members can agree – and several recently acceded countries, including China, have agreed – to legally binding commitments in this regard. Some Members have proposed the establishment of a new multilateral WTO Agreement on Export Taxes as part of the Doha Development Agenda, so far with little traction. Although there is some talk of challenging export taxes as de facto export prohibitions or as indirect subsidies, most observers seem to agree that export taxes remain one of the last significant aspects of multilateral trade policy that lies beyond the scope of current rules. * The China Challenge In light of the above discussion, on what basis could the United States or the European Union bring a WTO claim against Chinese export restrictions? Recent reports have referred to problems with China’s export quotas and taxes: export quotas can be challenged as inconsistent with GATT Article XI, and export taxes can be challenged when applied to products not inscribed on China’s list of exceptions to its accession commitment to eliminate export taxes (Annex 6 to China’s Accession Protocol). Export taxes applied to products not on China’s list appear to be consistent with general WTO rules.**