US okays probe into China subsidy to exporters
Reuters, Washington
The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday approved the first U.S. investigation into suspected Chinese government subsidies to exporters since 1991 in a case that could open the floodgate to more probes.The trade panel voted 4-1 to clear the way for the Commerce Department to decide whether to slap countervailing duties on coated paper from China to offset what U.S. manufacturers charge are subsidies that include government grants, preferential loans and tax breaks. At issue is a long-standing Commerce Department policy, upheld by a 1986 court ruling, that U.S. countervailing duty laws do not apply to non-market economies like China. When Commerce accepted the countervailing duty petition last month, it said it would decide within the course of that investigation whether to change its policy. The department is expected to issue its preliminary decision in the case next month.
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