Anti-dumping charges from the United States posed the biggest threat to Chinese exports in the first three quarters, affecting 92 percent of all Chinese goods facing such charges worldwide by sales value, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a report released this week.

Analysts say China's mounting trade surplus with the United States, which reached US$34.5 billion in the first eight months, and the approaching US presidential election are the major reasons for the accusation.

Domestic companies faced 42 anti-dumping charges in the first nine months of this year, involving goods worth US$1.07 billion, the report showed.

The United States filed nine charges, which would impact combined Chinese exports worth US$980 million, the report said.

About 30 percent of China's exports go to the United States, and it accounted for nearly a quarter of the US' total trade deficit, the report said.

From January to August, China exported US$56 billion worth of goods to the United States, up 31.4 percent from last year. Meanwhile, it bought US$22 billion worth of goods from there, a rise of 28 percent. The trade surplus increased by 33.5 percent in the period compared with a year ago.

"The mounting trade surplus in favor of China is the major reason for the flood of US anti-dumping cases," said Li Huiyong with Shenyin and Wanguo Research and Consulting Co Ltd.

"Some US manufactures attributed the rising unemployment rates to cheap Chinese goods that hurt their competitiveness."

He also noted that this situation is also closely tied with the coming presidential election as some politicians will call for punitive measures against Chinese exports in attempt to win votes from citizens fearing job losses.

In July, the United States International Trade Commission determined that color TVs made in China were dumped onto the US market.

Analysts said the Chinese furniture industry could face damages of up to US$7.7 billion if the US commission accepted anti-dumping charges made against them.

Feng Jun, an official with the Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Center, said the next two years are expected to see a peak of anti-dumping cases when the domestic market is opened further.

(Shanghai Daily October 21, 2003)