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Gold/Mining/Energy : Rare Earth Elements and Exotic Metals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (10645)	8/10/2014 5:51:30 PM
From: LoneClone	Respond to of 24623

China loses WTO rare earths export appeal China has run out of options in its quest to stall implementation of a WTO decision that its rare earth export policies violate international trade rules. mineweb.com Author: Dorothy Kosich Posted: Friday , 08 Aug 2014 RENO (Mineweb) - After China lost its appeal of a World Trade Organization decision that the country’s restraints against exports of rare earth minerals, tungsten and molybdenum violated international trade rules, officials from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said the country will adopt measures in accordance with WTO rules. Nevertheless, an MOC official told official state news agency Xinhua that “China regretted the WTOs’ final ruling that China’s export duties, quotas, and administration of rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum products were inconsistent with WTO rules and China’s Accession Protocol”. The WTO Appellate Body affirmed a WTO dispute settlement panel’s March 2014 finding and rejected China’s appeal, therefore agreeing with the U.S., Japan and the European Union, which had jointly filed the original complaint with the organization. United Steelworks (USW) President Leo W. Gerard declared, “Chinese leaders and Chinese companies game the system. China knows that it often takes years to bring them to the WTO and work through the cumbersome process. During that time, they continue to reap the benefits of their illegal acts. The rule of law is simply not respected by China’s leaders. That’s true for human rights, religious freedom, intellectual property protection, commercial law and all across the board.” Gerard called Wednesday’s announcement of the affirmative determination by the WTO Appellate Body in the REE export case “a big win and some consolidation for U.S. workers who have lost work and wages as a result of China’s cheating”. “China’s policies directly affected USW members in factories around the country, and at the only existing U.S. rare earth mine and refinery in Mountain Pass, CA—a USW-represented facility with more than 300 miners,” he observed. “China’s policies originally depressed world market prices by flooding markets at low prices which helped mothball that facility. In an effort to offer domestic sources of rare earth minerals, the Mountain Pass facility has reopened. But China’s actions have resulted in many downstream users of rare earth minerals moving from the U.S.” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman observed, “This report makes the end of the .line for this dispute. …We have sent a clear signal to our trading partners that we will be tenacious in protecting American businesses, American workers, and the role of law.” The U.S., the EU and Japan initiated the WTO rare earths dispute on March 13, 2012, after China drastically reduced its rare earths export quotas and caused a spike in world prices and considerable disruption to the global rare earths market, said Froman. Upon a U.S. request, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body will adopt the panel and appellate body reports within 30 days and call for China to bring its measures into compliance with its WTO obligations. China had argued that its imposition of export duties and quotas are justified under exceptions in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), specifically as environmental protection measures and as measures related to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources. However, the WTO panel found that China failed to justify its REE export duties and quotas as legitimate conservation or environmental protection measures. The panel also found the export quota requirements are inconsistent with WTO rules. The day before Chinese officials received the WTO appellant ruling, China’s government revealed it had approved the creation of two regional REE monopolies with the mergers to take place by the end of this year. Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech. Co. and Xiamen Tungsten Co. Ltd. said they have been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to lead the formation of the two REE groups, one in the north and the other in the south, reported China Daily. Baogang Group, Baotou’s parent, will handle the establishment of China North Rare Earth High Tech, consolidating mining, smelting, separation and utilization companies in the Northern region of Inner Mongolia and will include Gansu Rare Earth Group. Xiamen Tungsten will build a conglomerate covering the southern part of the country with all related REE companies in Fujian Province except for state-owned China Minmetals by year-end. The organization of these big conglomerates is viewed to be only the first step toward consolidation of the rare earth industry.