China Will Hit United States Auto Imports with Duties

China: MORE TRADE ISSUES AHEAD

GM, the U.S. automaker with the largest presence in China, said it would work with representatives of both the U.S. and Chinese governments to try to find a solution "consistent with a constructive global trade environment."

GM expects to sell about 11,000 SUVs and large cars built in the United States to China this year. Those models include the Buick Enclave and the Cadillac CTS and Escalade.

Chrysler said it was reviewing the decision to determine what impact it could have on its business.

Chrysler, controlled by Italy's Fiat, said in June that it was on track to sell 40,000 vehicles in China this year. The Jeep Grand Cherokee went on sale in China this year and Chrysler had been looking to export its 300 model large sedan.

Honda Motor Co Ltd exports Acura TL sedans built in Ohio to China. Those cars would also be subject to an additional 4.4 percent tariff. As of November, Honda had sold 362 TL models in China.

In 2009, China eclipsed the United States as the world's largest auto market, but its national car industry remains weak and fragmented, leaving 70 percent of the market to U.S., European, Japanese and South Korean makers.

Sales of passenger cars in China rose more than 30 percent in 2010, but the pace has slowed sharply in 2011 and sales gains are expected to be closer to 5 percent this year.

U.S vehicle exports to China were valued at $3.5 billion in 2010 and $4.2 billion through October of this year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Ten years after China joined the World Trade Organization, experts say it is likely to become more deeply enmeshed in trade disputes.

More problems for Beijing at the trade governing body will be partly due to its ever-expanding trade footprint, but also because the moods of many of its trading partners are souring over what they see as state support for strategic industries.

Actions against those trade practices have led to what the U.S. ambassador to the WTO, Michael Punke, last month called an emerging pattern of China's "reflexive resort to trade actions in response to legitimate actions taken by the United States or other trading partners."

U.S. officials have said they are not satisfied with the way China is meeting its obligations in the WTO and would continue to step up enforcement activity.

China's Trade Minister Chen Deming said China expects trade disputes to increase next year because of economic weakness in the United States and Europe.

"If we look at countries around us, for example Europe and the United States, we're all going to face difficulties brought about by these two areas," he said at a press conference in Geneva.