EU,China to embark on talks to solve 'trade war'

The European Union said on June 21 it had started ministerial-level talks with China, were they are expected to discuss rows over solar panels and other products, as tensions between the two risk escalating into a trade war.

Gao Hucheng, China’s Minister of Commerce, and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht are in attendance at the annual meeting of the joint economic and trade commission, William Fingleton, spokesman for the EU side, said in an e-mail.

Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters this week that the talks would “seriously review what happened over the past year in bilateral trade relations and study how to resolve problems, including the dispute over photovoltaic (solar panel) trade.”

 EU Trade spokesman John Clancy said the solar panel issue would not be on the official agenda of the meeting, but De Gucht and Gao were expected to discuss it on the sidelines.

“Confidential technical-level discussions” with China have started in Brussels this week “in a bid to find a negotiated settlement”, he said in a statement this week.

“It is important to underline that the EU’s ambition remains to find an amicable solution as soon as possible,” he said.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, this month imposed an average tariff of 11.8 percent on solar panel imports from China -- rising to 47.6 percent on August 6 if there are no negotiations based on a Chinese commitment to address the problem.

The tariffs are provisional for six months, with EU member states having a vote in December on whether to make them permanent or not.


/HurriyetDailynews.Com/