Views differ on effect of US tariffs but specter of past trade war looms largeThough Japan is not exempted from US President Donald Trump's new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the Japanese government and steel industry have responded with restraint.Several Japanese ministers called the measures "regrettable" on March 23 when the tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum went into effect.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Washington in mid-April to ask for an exemption, while Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said Japan will continue to "patiently" press its case.The Trump administration has granted initial exemptions to the European Union and other allies. The EU threatened countermeasures if its steel and aluminum are on the list.Some Japanese officials and experts believe the new tariffs will have limited impact on Japanese companies.Japan exported about 1.9 million tons of steel products to the United States in 2017, about 2 percent of Japan's total crude steel production that stood at some 100 million tons.Japanese officials and scholars say their country's high-quality products, such as steel stock for railway tracks or automobile bodies and pipes for oilfield development, are irreplaceable in the US market.But some economists believe that as the US reduces steel and aluminum imports, the supply to the world market will increase and steel prices will decline. Even if Japan were exempted from the new tariffs, Japanese steel industry would suffer a great loss.At the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's annual conference on March 25, Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, said he is concerned that the Trump administration's protectionist policy could lead to a trade war.The US side argues that the import of cheap steel is pushing its military-related industries toward decline, and therefore putting US national security at risk. The World Trade Organization, however, recognizes such an argument only in limited cases, such as when a country is in the midst of a military contingency. custom woven friendship braceletsbracelet montre silicone orangecustomized silicone braceletsdesign your own rubber bracelet onlineusb wristbands custom
The national and Hong Kong SAR flags flutter outside the Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station. [Photo provided to China Daily] HONG KONG - It is a constitutional obligation for China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security in successfully implementing the principle of one country, two systems, officials have said at a symposium here. The successful implementation of 'one country, two systems' is impossible without national security. Here in Hong Kong, we must always keep the special administrative region's constitutional obligation close at heart, Wang Zhimin, director of the central government's liaison office in HKSAR, said at the symposium on Monday to mark China's fourth National Security Education Day. Also speaking at the symposium, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that national security is the corner stone of a country's stability and the best guarantee for its people's well-being, and Hong Kong, as an integral part of China, has the responsibility to safeguard China's national security. In the new era of China's reform and opening up, Hong Kong needs to take a more active part in the country's national governance, and make efforts to improve its citizens' national security awareness, Lam said. The HKSAR government bears the constitutional responsibility for local legislation on national security in accordance to the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, Lam said, adding that her government will continue its efforts for a favorable social environment for the legislation. Before the completion of the local legislation, the HKSAR government will not turn a blind eye to any deed violating the national constitution and the Basic Law and jeopardizing national security, she stressed.
