China to impose steep duty on US poultry

Beijing : China will impose anti-dumping duties of up to 105.4 per cent on imports of poultry products from the United States, opening a new rift between the two countries at the end of a week in which frictions between the US and China have escalated considerably.

China's Commerce Ministry said it had decided to impose the heavy duties after an investigation into allegations of dumping made by local poultry producers.

In recent years, American companies had developed a profitable business exporting to China chicken feet that were almost worthless in the United States.

The new trade dispute came as it appeared likely President Barack Obama would meet with the Dalai Lama later this month.

The White House has yet to confirm the date for any meeting but the Tibetan religious leader's office said that he would be in Washington on February 17-18.

Interests

Earlier in the week, a senior Chinese official said that a meeting with the Dalai Lama was not in the interests of the United States at a time when it was trying to recover from the financial crisis.

"If the US leader chooses this period to meet the Dalai Lama, that would damage trust and cooperation between our two countries, and how would that help the United States surmount the current economic crisis?" said Zhu Weiqun, a vice-minister in the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, the Chinese body which handles Beijing's contacts with the Dalai Lama.

China also last week threatened to impose sanctions on four US companies for participating in a planned $6.4 billion (Dh23.5 billion) weapons deal with Taiwan that the Obama administration has approved.

The companies included Boeing, which has been at the centre of US-China relations for the last 30 years.

— Financial Times