Last week, the US threatened to impose punitive tariffs on $3,000m of Chinese imports from June 17 if it was still not satisfied that China meant business over cracking down on theft of intellectual property. In an effort to steal the moral high ground, Peking, via the Xinhua news agency, on Friday trumpeted news of the closure of the Hainan Anmei Laser Manufacturing Co for making 26,000 pirated copies of five different compact disks and six pornographic laser disks. However, it was not clear whether the withdrawal of the license was really news, because Chinese officials had reported the plant closed earlier this year, although it could since have reopened. Peking characterized the US threats of punitive tariffs as a dirty trick motivated by Washington’s failure to push through censure of China’s human rights record at the UN Human Rights Commission’s annual conference in Geneva last month. China is threatening its own punitive tariffs on US cars, telecommunications equipment and farm products, as well as suspension of imports of movies and compact disks. Most observers still expect the US and China and to find means to avert a trade war by the June 17 deadline, Reuter notes.
