Beijing urges US to observe WTO ruling

Amid the Sino-US textile row, Beijing cautioned Washington that if it did not observe the WTO ruling on steel tariffs, the country may take some counter measures to protect its interests. ‘‘If the US did not observe the WTO ruling, China would raise the tariffs of some US products and plans to do so were under discussion,’’ Chinese vice-minister of commerce Ma Xiuhong said here. According to the official Xinhua news agency, Ma urged the US to adhere to the WTO ruling and terminate its protective measures.

She said China, as a member of the WTO, would observe WTO rules and maintain the rights of Chinese companies. Ma said the Chinese government attached great importance to the US steel tariffs case and worked with other WTO members to solve the issue via the trade organisation. In March 2002, the US raised tariffs on imported steel up to 30 per cent. On November 10, the WTO ruled that the US steel tariffs violated global trade rules.

Meanwhile, a foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that Chinese vice-foreign minister Zhou Wenzhong on Tuesday summoned US Ambassador to China Clark Randt to ‘‘express concerns over the US decision on imposing quotas on three types of textile products it imports from China.’’

However, China denied reports of cancellation of a purchase delegation’s visit to the US, saying its trip has been ‘postponed’ due to ‘technical’ reasons. Insisting that postponing of the delegation’s visit is not linked to US imposing restrictions on imports of Chinese fabrics, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the two developments were not related. Earlier reports had said the Chinese delegation would be visiting the US to purchase soybean, wheat and cotton.