Comment

Obama Administration Files Complaint w/ WTO against China's Renewable Energy Subsidies

5
KingKenrod12/31/2010 3:25:57 pm PST

re: #4 000G

Hm. I am not sure, but I think a country with 1.3 billion people shifting towards a greener industry might be more important for the planet than another country with 300 million people saving more profits and/or jobs. In any case, I like how the article at S&R that I linked parsed the whole argument of free trade vs protectionism vs environmentalism.

The article doesn’t delve into the key issue here, which is not that China subsidizes its wind power industry, but that the subsidies are only available to companies that use Chinese parts. This appears to be a violation of WTO rules. And the fact that China is becoming a wind technology exporter makes this a much more serious issue as export subsidies are (for the most part outside of agriculture) banned.

ustr.gov