1970-01-01 08:33:27
CHINA will cancel or cut export rebates on 2,831 types of products, including clothing, shoes, hats and toys, to curb the country's record trade surplus, ease trade friction with other countries and spur industries to use less energy, the finance ministry said today.
The government will remove export rebates on 553 types of commodities that are polluting and require a lot of energy to produce, including fertilizers, cement, salt and leather products, the Ministry of Finance said on its Website. The adjustments take effect on July 1.
The government will also reduce rebates on 2,268 types of exports that are likely to lead to trade friction, including textiles, toys and paper products, the ministry said.
"The purpose of the move is to rein in the trade surplus and ease friction with other countries,'' the ministry said.
China's trade gap surged 73 percent from a year earlier to US$22.45 billion last month. Exports grew to US$94.1 billion, up 28.7 percent year-on-year, and a slight rise of 1.9 percentage points from April.
China aims to achieve a balance between its imports and exports by 2010 as it ramps up efforts to boost domestic demand and rein in overseas sales of energy-intensive products, the Ministry of Commerce said in May.
Total foreign trade is expected to reach US$2.3 trillion by that time with annual growth of 10 percent, cooling off from last year's 23.8 percent expansion, the ministry said.
Four US senators introduced legislation on June 14 that would allow American companies to petition for steeper import tariffs to counter the benefit of any undervalued currencies in China or other countries.
The legislation is the latest attempt by law makers to address China's trade surplus with the United States. The law makers say that an undervalued yuan gives China's exports an unfair edge by making its products cheaper.
However, the US Treasury Department on the same day issued a semi-annual report on currency practices around the world without identifying China as a currency manipulator. The report said it couldn't determine if China intended to seek a trade advantage by keeping its currency undervalued.
The yuan has risen 8.3 percent since China ended a peg to the US dollar in July 2005. US law makers said last month the currency is undervalued as much as 40 percent.
Shanghai Daily News