The United Steelworkers which are a union that represent the American tire workers, decided that it was time that the United States raised tariffs since the imports from China was affecting the $1.7 billion tire market in the United States.
Tire imports tripled between the years of 2004 and 2008, China's imports into the United States grew over 16.7 percent from 4.7 percent according to trade records. Many American tire companies had to close their plants between the years of 2006 and 2007 since consumers prefered China imported tires.
The Tire Industry Association is opposing the tariff saying that they prefer to move their plants oversees and produce tires at a cheaper cost instead of saving american jobs. "If American workers and manufacturers are going to compete in the global market, they need to have a government that uses trade enforcement tools" (Andrews L. Edmund, September 12, 2009)
The WTO actually recommended a higher tariff than what President Obama was imposing, they recommended a 55% to start with rather than the 35% .
War between China and the U.S. started at the moment President Obama raised tarrifs on China's tire imports. The Agriculture Association decided to ask for an investigation on chicken prices. "They couldn't sell their products and were losing a lot of money," says Ma Xiang, the association's deputy secretary-general. "We investigated this situation and found out the import of American chicken parts made the competition in the domestic market very severe."
Many believe that this started as a retaliation because of the raising of tariffs on China's tire import to the United States.
In the U.S. chicken feet are often grounded to feed the chickens. In China they look at chicken feet (also called phoenix talons) as a "Delicacy" because they prefer their meat on the bone.
"The United States is by far the world's leading supplier of king size chicken feet. Also, about half of the chicken parts sold to China are wings and feet. (nytimes article)
China filed an Antidumping tariff against the U.S. chicken part import ranging from 43.1% to 105.4%. Definition for antidumping tariff is: A tariff imposed on imported goods to discourage sales which may be injurious to domestically manufactured goods. Usually to prohibit sales of goods at less than they would be sold for in the domestic market of the country of origin. (www.insurecargo.com/help/glossary.asp)
President Obama also said the United States had to take a stronger position on China's currency, which undervalued for about 40% which in turned caused China to pay less on their exports.
The rise in tariffs will cause American chicken feet to be driven out of the Chinese market.
The United States have the biggest Chicken Feet than any other market.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/business/global/16chickens.html
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1947488_2012362,00.html
Huang Dongyan, 36, from Shaoyang, Hunan
For Huang Dongyan, her toughest days as a migrant worker came in 2004. The economy was weak, and she was having trouble finding a job. So she joined up with her brother to open a small restaurant. But the restaurant continually lost money, compounding her troubles. "There were several months that I was full of suffering," she says. This spring Huang, 36, found employment at Shenzhen Guangke's LED factory. Her work site is more than a day's journey from her hometown, so she spends months away from her 15-year-old daughter Zhang Juan and 3-year-old son Zhang Yi. The children are taken care of by family members. Huang longs to return home to be with them. But she also knows that she might not find work there, and if she did the wages would be much lower. So Huang stays in Shenzhen to provide for her family's future. "The money I earn, it's for them," she says.
This shows that even though it seems that China makes a lot of moneyon exports, there are many poor families that have to leave and work in another City or Town just to survive.
These two cases are a good example of the Wars between different countries trying to make sure that their market and goods survive.
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