European fruit and vegetable farmers, already the beneficiaries of heavy subsidies, are looking ahead to a crop-by-crop battle for even more protection from Chinese competition. But as the fate of Polish strawberry growers shows, trade barriers may do little to stop Chinese industrial farms like Binghua Food Co from gaining ground in the European market.
Trade officials must decide by April whether to make the tariff permanent, in a dispute that shows how Europe can be economically vulnerable even in some of its most protected sectors.
An EU investigation into Binghua and other Chinese fruit producers found they benefited from tax breaks that allowed them to undercut market prices, in addition to advantages such as inexpensive land and labor. EU trade officials decided that to turn away the Poles would have sent a continent-wide signal of surrender to Chinese farmers, said a person familiar with the matter.
European regulators are torn by two constituencies. While producers fear Asian competition, thrifty consumers are increasingly hungry for it. European jam, yogurt and ice-cream producers who need cheap fruit to cut their costs have lined up to back China.
Chinese farm-export numbers to Europe are small but growing. Chinese frozen-strawberry exports to the EU rose to $26.4 million last year from $6.2 million in 2002, an increase in market share to 20% from 3.5%. That growth came largely at the expense of other imports, and the new strawberry tariff is likely to help exporters in countries such as Morocco more than it helps Poland, as Moroccan strawberries won't be affected by the tariffs.
Chinese agriculture exporters are actively pursuing sales to Europe. At a trade fair last month in Chengdu, meant to bring together small European and Chinese companies, agriculture was the most prominent sector represented -- 195 of the 800 companies present -- ahead of high-tech and heavy-machinery firms.
And in November, 120 apple vendors crowded the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels to showcase the attractiveness of Chinese fruit. One room was piled high with boxes of apples. "We're trying to show we have a special taste," said Zhou Zhixiao, division chief of the Shaanxi Provincial Fruit Administrative Bureau.
"We have more and more Chinese customers," said Robert Jacobs, King's sales-and-marketing manager. Chinese apple exports to the EU have grown to $46 million in 2005 from $4 million in 2000.
Source:佚名