Cargo Business Newswire

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Friday, March 16, 2012

U.S., Japan and E.U. challenge China’s green tech trade practices

The Obama Administration, Japan and the European Union made a unified challenge this week towards what they claim is China’s unfair restrictions over rare earth exports that are used in hybrid and electric car batteries, energy efficient light bulbs and wind turbine construction.

The U.S. has called upon the World Trade Organization to engage on the issue.

“America’s workers and manufacturers are being hurt in both established and budding industrial sectors by these policies,” said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a statement.

“China continues to make its export restraints more restrictive, resulting in massive distortions and harmful disruptions in supply chains for these materials throughout the global marketplace,” Kirk said.

The White House claims China’s rare earth restrictions create an unfair advantage for Chinese producers that could harm U.S. domestic industrial production of green technology.

China produces 97 percent of the global rare earth supply; consisting of 17 metals that allows for technology to be smaller and more portable.

To read the full National Public Radio story: stateimpact.npr.org