U.S. probes China’s clean-tech policies

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JEREMY HOBSON: A Chinese official has ratcheted up the rhetoric in a dispute with the U.S. Steelworkers Union. The union filed a complaint last month, saying Beijing’s subsidies for manufacturers of green-energy products are a violation of international trade rules. A top Chinese official said yesterday that the U.S. cannot win this trade fight.

Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall Genzer has more.

NANCY MARSHALL GENZER: The union says Beijing discriminates against U.S. clean energy companies that want to sell products in China. And gives illegal subsidies to Chinese companies that make wind turbines, and solar panels.

Wayne Ranick is a union spokesman. He says the subsidies allow the Chinese companies to cut prices for green technology.

WAYNE RANICK: They’ve just seized market share from the U.S. in Europe’s wind and solar markets by driving down world prices.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative now has three months to decide whether to bring a case against Beijing with the World Trade Organization.

Erin Ennis is vice president of the U.S. China Business Council. She says China respects the WTO’s decisions.

ERIN ENNIS: Where rulings have come down against them, China has a pretty good track record of actually implementing those rulings.

Ennis isn’t surprised that a union initiated this case. A steelworkers complaint last year led to U.S. tariffs on imports of Chinese tires.

In Washington, I’m Nancy Marshall Genzer for Marketplace.