China to scrap higher tariffs on auto parts imports: US

All these countries complain about buy American it is against  free trade, now this looks kinda funny when they can put a high tariff on our goods, but we don’t  put on theirs.
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Fri Aug 28

WASHINGTON (AFP) – China has informed the United States it will scrap from Tuesday higher tariffs on imported auto parts following a World Trade Organization ruling, a top US trade official said Friday.

“We are pleased that China has informed us that it is eliminating the additional charges on imported auto parts … in response to the WTO ruling,” US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement.

“We look forward to carefully reviewing the changes announced by China,” Kirk said, adding that the amendments to China?s laws incorporating the removal of the higher charges were expected to be published shortly.

The WTO last year ruled that the higher tariffs were unfair. Beijing’s move would put an end to four-year-old regulations that increased the levy on auto parts imports if they make up too large a share of the domestically finished automobiles.

“Ending these charges will help ensure a level playing field for the high-quality auto parts made in America, and is an important example of the importance of enforcing our international trade agreement rights,” Kirk said.

The Chinese state media reported Friday that Beijing was expected to scrap the higher tariffs next week and that the Chinese government would issue a statement Tuesday abolishing the rule.

China imposes an import duty of 25 percent on vehicles and only 10 percent on auto parts.

Beijing has a minimum local content requirement of 60 percent for domestically produced cars. A vehicle that fails that criterion suffers the same tariff — 25 percent — as if it had been imported completely built.

The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body ruled in July 2008 that China’s increased tariff on auto parts imports was inconsistent with the international trade body’s rules, a decision welcomed by the United States, which brought the complaint along with Canada and the European Union.

China appealed the ruling, but the WTO’s appeal body upheld the decision in December. Following the WTO action, the United States asked China to honor its WTO obligation and remove the tariff increase.