Commerce Secretary Opinion: China, EU Tariffs Higher Than Those US Imposes; US Not Protectionist
China and the EU impose higher tariffs than the U.S. does on most types of goods, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wrote in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal July 31. “Many nations express commitment to free markets while criticizing the U.S. for what they characterize as a protectionist stance,” Ross said. “Yet these very nations engage in unfair trading practices, erect barriers to American exports, and maintain significant trade surpluses with us.” A graphic illustration accompanying the piece shows 22 goods categories in which tariffs are applied, based on Commerce Department and World Trade Organization data. It shows that the U.S. maintains tariffs higher than China on only two of the categories -- dairy products and petroleum -- and that the U.S. has higher tariffs than the EU on five -- oilseed, fats and oils; cotton; petroleum; textiles; and clothing. Though the category was not included in the graphic, Ross also slammed higher EU and Chinese tariffs on U.S. automobiles.
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Ross also called out China and the EU for nontariff barriers such as inefficient import certification, unscientific sanitary standards, forced technology transfers, export grants, low-cost loans, energy subsidies, “special” value-added tax refunds, and below-market real estate sales and leases. “Until we make better deals with our trading partners, we will never know precisely how much of our deficit in goods is due to such trickery,” Ross wrote. “But there can be no question that these barriers are responsible for a significant portion of our current trade imbalance.” Responding to China’s non-market trade measures with trade remedies isn’t protectionist, because, in fact, such remedies are authorized by the World Trade Organization, despite WTO’s faulty continued conclusions that the related trade enforcement cases are evidence of protectionism, Ross said. “Apparently, the possibility never occurs to the WTO that there are more trade [enforcement] cases because there are more trade abuses.”