Words of wisdom from the Chinese commerce minister:

Bo Xilai, the commerce minister, said the EU and the
US had not provided sufficient evidence that the flow of Chinese goods
have damaged their local markets.

Chinese textile exports to the US have swollen by 250 per cent in the last year, and by 83 per cent to Europe.

However,
Mr Bo said the price of a dozen T-shirts, one of the product lines
cited by the EU, had risen from €97 (£67) to €101 between January and
March. He said China had fought hard for its place in the World Trade
Organisation and was determined to uphold its trade rights.

"If
you place limits on Chinese products, we will adjust our policies
accordingly," he warned. "If you place five ounces of pressure on our
businesses, we will remove eight ounces of their burdens."

"The
EU and the United States should spend more time on the development of
high technology, rather than spending time quarrelling with us on
issues like shirts, socks and trousers," he said.

The
EU said yesterday that it had provided three months of data to show
European businesses were suffering. "We see there is irreparable damage
and that is why we have launched a request for formal consultations,"
said commission spokesman Claude Veron-Reville.

She warned that China had 15 days to limit its exports or face possible EU curbs.

The problem with Ms. Veron-Reville’s statement is that it is a lie. Flat out, complete and total and utter bollocks. I have repeatedly asked both her office and Eurostat for the figures. (Before anyone can actually decide what is going on we need the numbers not just for Chinese imports but for all imports by country of origin. Some countries will have seen falls in their exports….most probably as a result of Chinese companies moving production back to China as they no longer need to do the finishing elsewhere to gain quota share.)

Here is the answer I got from Eurostat on May 23 2005:

Thank you for your e-mail. There are still 5 Member States missing for March
2005: Belgium, Denmark, Cyprus, Portugal and Lithuania. We estimate to have
them within 2-3 weeks, so I suggest you contact us again a bit later on, if
it’s not too late for you to receive the data by then, and I hope that we
then will be able to send the data to you.

The Commission cannot have provided the relevant data for the three month period as the relevant data does not yet exist. Lying bastards.