Chinese lawmakers slam U.S. trade bill as protectionism

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers on Wednesday joined in a wave of criticism against the passage of a bill by the United States Congress to empower the country's Department of Commerce to impose countervailing duties on Chinese imports, warning that such moves will cause "materialized damage" to Sino-U.S. trade relations.

China's swift and strong response came after the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill to allow the Department of Commerce to impose countervailing duties on imports from China and Vietnam.

"Such moves harm others and will do no good for themselves," said Chang Dechuan, a deputy to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

The renewed tariff bill by the U.S. side not only departs from norms governing international trade, but also undermines the business interests of China, said Chang, who is also president of the Qingdao Port, one of China's biggest ports.

The bill does no good to help rejuvenate industries in the United States or increase job opportunities, but adds to the burdens of U.S. consumers, Chang said.

The U.S. bill came in response to a U.S. Federal Court ruling on Dec. 19, 2011, stating that the U.S. Commerce Department does not have the legal authority to impose countervailing duties on goods from non-market economy countries.

The U.S. court explained that government payments cannot be characterized as "subsidies" in a non-market economy context, saying the Obama administration lacked legal ground to impose a three-year tariff on imports of low-grade Chinese tires in September 2009, which U.S. authorities claimed enjoyed unfair government subsidies.