Posted on 04/18/2007 4:08:38 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Mega import deals with US likely soon
By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-18 07:10
China is likely to ink mega import deals, possibly amounting to $12 billion, with the United States during the second Sino-US strategic economic dialogue next month, in a move to narrow the trade gap.
The talks, which will be co-chaired by Vice-Premier Wu Yi and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, are the highest-profile dialogue mechanism over economic issues between the two.
The proposed procurement delegation is likely to be led by Vice-Minister of Commerce Ma Xiuhong, covering a wide range of US agricultural and industrial products, from soybean and cotton manufacturing machinery to electronic products.
The delegation will visit Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington.
Though there's no official word on the possible procurement spree, if it does materialize, it will be seen as the latest move by China to cut its trade surplus with the US that totaled over $144 billion in 2006.
This round of Sino-US dialogue is expected to be tense as the US government has just referred China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over intellectual property right issues and for allegedly restricting distribution of foreign music, films and books.
Chinese enterprises last year signed about $16 billion in import deals with their US counterparts on products ranging from soybean to aircraft during President Hu Jintao's visit to the US.
These organized procurements reflect China's intention to address the trade imbalance, said Zhang Liping, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. But some experts argued the proposed procurement would only have a short-term impact on the Sino-US trade gap.
In order to pursue a more balanced trade with some key trade partners like the US, the Chinese government has been encouraging imports. Wang Xinpei, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, last week said China was studying more means to enlarge imports.
There will be tons of crooked politicians on sale in these cities, which Chicoms will buy as well. That would be money well-spent for Chinese.
Ping!
Chinese imports in pet foods are making animals sick all over the country. In addition to melamine found in wheat gluten imported from China, it has now been found in rice protein powder, also imported from China. More pet food has been recalled, and the AVMA suspects four more foods (as yet unnamed and unrecalled). If you have animals, be on the lookout.
Remember when it was only cheap fireworks? :-)
We can sell them "Polonium Mocha Latte." That will reduce the trade surplus and reciprocate the pet food fiasco.
I would be unsurprised if the Chinese focus on buying means of production rather than products. They may make some contracts for raw agricultural products (soybeans and cotton come to mind), but my guess is that they will be more interested in factories than flour.
The ones with dual applications, no doubt.
On the surface, that may seem like a negative aspect of their trip. But really, there isn't anything wrong with that. When individuals spend money, they can either choose to purchase a consumable (such as a luxury car) or they can purchase investment equipment (such as machinery for a food processing business). Either way, you can't really fault a nation for choosing a path that is wise for their long term investment. I mean, it would be nice if they bought a million Cadillacs or something like that, but that wouldn't be wise for them to do.
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