European Parliament votes 546-28 to deny China market econom
THE European Parliament has voted 546 to 28 to deny China market economy status (MES), warning that it would leave Europe's industries vulnerable to a flood of Chinese goods, writes London's Daily Telegraph.
The vote is not binding but constrains the European Commission in its efforts to push through the market economy measure with the backing of Britain, Xinhua reported.
The vote marks the latest retreat from globalisation as support crumbles both for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US, said the report.
European parliamentarians, left and right, voted against the proposal in an outpouring of anger over cheap imports of Chinese steel.
They claim that China is dumping steel on the global market at US$55 a tonne below its own cost of production, posing an existential danger to the European steel industry.
"We must stand firm in the face of this unfair competition. China is not a market economy and should not be recognised as one," said MEP David Martin, British Labour's trade spokesman in Strasbourg.
Said French MEP Edouard Martin: "Granting them market economy status in the current circumstances would tighten the noose around the UK steel industry's neck."
Mr Edouard Martin, also the leader of the MES China Action Group, says the issue has become a test case of Europe's political legitimacy and willingness to listen to the people.
"The EU itself risks imploding if it persists with this error," he said.
The Chinese have a legal claim to market economy status since their WTO accession terms suggested that this was automatic after 15 years, which lapses in December. Japan recognises this claim, and so does an internal finding by the commission's legal services. The US and others do not.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says excess capacity in China's steel industry has reached 400 million tonnes a year, double the EU's entire steel production.
While Beijing has vowed to eliminate up to 150 million tonnes over the next five years, the country is currently building new state-of-the-art mills at a brisk pace.
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