Low-carbon development influences China’s foreign trade
December 20, 2012 Category Environment, Greenhouse gas emissions
“Low-carbon development is now having a more obvious influence on China’s foreign trade,” Wang Shouwen, Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), told a seminar during the China International Green Innovative Products & Technologies Show 2012 in Guangzhou. “Developed economies such as the EU and the U.S. have actively promoted carbon tariffs and carbon certification, having an increasing potential effect on Chinese exports. In addition to the trade policies of developed economies, business activities of transnational companies will affect Chinese foreign trade as they now prefer low-carbon products in their procurement,” Wang said. Though the U.S. Congress did not pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, it could become law in the future and entitle the government to impose carbon tariffs on Chinese exports beginning in 2020, according to Wang. It would affect Chinese exports in 46 industries including steel and nonferrous metals. The EU has now postponed implementation of the EU Emission Trading Scheme on all international flights to and from the EU until September 2013, but if China would have to pay the tariff, it would add CNY2,000 in transportation costs to each ton of cargo and lower the profit of export businesses by about 2%,” according to Wang. In 2010, Chinese exports to the EU totaled USD311.24 billion, and 17.31% were carried by aircraft. “If the EU were to impose tariffs on aviation, and emission reduction into ocean transportation industries, this would surely have a great impact on Chinese exports, as Chinese exports through ocean shipping account for one-fifth of the world’s total,” Zhou Maorong, Deputy Director of the Institute of International Studies at Wuhan University, said. However the promotion of the green sector can also serve as the driving force for the country’s trade to develop a new competitive edge, Wang said. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2012 summit, held in Vladivostok in September, saw leaders agree on a list of 54 green technologies that will be subject to import duties of 5% or less by 2015, which “brings new opportunities for Chinese exporters amid challenging global trade”, according to Commerce Minister Chen Deming, as reported by the China Daily.
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