The US filed its second car- related complaint against China at the World Trade Organization since president Barack Obama began his re-election campaign, accusing the Asian nation of illegally subsidising exports of automobiles and auto parts.
The aid amounted to at least $1 billion between 2009 and 2011 and benefited as much as 60 per cent of Chinese car-parts exports, according to the US.
he subsidies put US component manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage, which
Tencourages the outsourcing of car-parts production to China, the US said.
The administration "is committed to protecting the rights of nearly 800,000 American workers in our $350 billion auto and auto-parts manufacturing sector", Trade
Representative Ron Kirk said in an e-mailed statement. "Today we are continuing to make it clear to our trading partners that we will fight to support each job here at home that this sector supports."
The US announced the complaint as Mr Obama campaigns in Ohio, a key battleground state in the November 6th election, with 54,200 residents employed by the car-parts industry and 12.4 per cent of the state's total employment related to the auto sector. Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who opposed the 2009 government bailout of the auto industry, has stepped up accusations that Mr Obama is timid on China as the campaign enters its final weeks and said today's complaint is inadequate.
"It is too little, too late for American businesses and middle-class families," Mr Romney said in an e-mailed statement. "I will pursue a comprehensive strategy to confront China's unfair trade practices and ensure a level playing field where our businesses can compete and win."
Today's WTO challenge is the 15th lodged by the US against China, which joined the Geneva-based trade arbiter in December 2001, and means the two governments must hold talks for at least two months in a bid to resolve the matter. If the discussions fail, the US can ask WTO judges to rule.
Before Mr Obama's announcement, China challenged US anti- subsidy duties in its eighth WTO complaint against the nation. The challenge comes after the US passed a law in March allowing the Commerce Department to apply duties on $4.7 billion of imports such as tires, steel, aluminium, paper and chemicals to offset government subsidies by nations with non-market economies such as China.
The US also said it will ask WTO judges to rule on the legality of Chinese duties on American auto exports. The request, to be made at the WTO's next Dispute Settlement Body meeting on September 28th, stems from the Obama administration's July 5th complaint accusing China of imposing unfair levies on $3.3 billion of US vehicle exports, mostly by General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.
Bloomberg