China is dumping U.S. debt

So should Americans be concerned that China has started dumping some of its Treasury holdings because it is no secret China is the largest holder of US debt ?

After all, it raises serious questions about whether China will keep lending Washington money to help finance the federal deficit in the future.

But right now, China is selling because it's in dire need of cash. Recently, it unleashed multiple moves to support its markets and prevent its currency from a freefall, while at the same time trying to stimulate the economy.

China owned $1.3 trillion of U.S. Treasuries as of June, making it the biggest holder of U.S. debt.

But China's foreign-exchange reserves plunged by a record $94 billion in August, according to the country's central bank, leaving it with a war chest of $3.6 trillion. Analysts say it's very safe to believe a big chunk of that decline occurred due to a reduction in U.S. Treasury holdings.

The selling and the potential that China will not be buying U.S. debt in the near future raises questions on its potential to increase America's borrowing costs.

Read more: China is dumping U.S. debt - Sep. 10, 2015

Solar Energy: EU not coordinating with Washington on China solar dispute

Europe's top trade official said on Tuesday there were no coordinated talks with the United States to negotiate an end to a trade dispute with China over the dumping of solar panels onto their respective markets.

The European Union has until June 5 to decide whether or not to impose duties averaging 47 percent on Chinese manufactured solar panels. The United States has already imposed duties of about 30 percent on Chinese manufacturers.

"We do not have a common battle plan. We have not discussed it," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told a meeting of New York finance, business and academic communities sponsored by the European American Chamber of Commerce and the State University of New York. "We have not teamed up. We have not done so."

De Gucht was responding to a New York Times report that said the United States and the European Union have each decided to negotiate settlements with China to resolve anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases against Chinese solar products.

Read more: EU not coordinating with Washington on China solar dispute

EU gains from "Jekyll and Hyde" trade tactics with China - study shows

The European Union's best strategy for boosting exports to China is a "Jekyll and Hyde" trade policy, blending diplomatic overtures with tough legal action against dumping and protectionism, a study published on Monday said.

The finding suggests that China is likely to be the subject of more EU trade disputes at the World Trade Organization and that more Chinese exports will be hit with punitive duties if the EU suspects unfair trade practices.

Trade with China, which is pinning future economic growth on the development of its own consumer market, could be a tonic for Europe's economy, which is struggling to recover from years of financial crisis.

The study, "What's holding back EU exports to China?", by economists at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, led by Simon Evenett, found China's "murky protectionism" had been effective in slowing EU imports into China, but EU states could fight back.

It found that EU member states that have called for more antidumping investigations of Chinese exports appear to have their own exports to China treated more leniently by Beijing - meaning complaining reaps rewards.

Read more: EU gains from "Jekyll and Hyde" trade tactics with China - study - Yahoo! Finance

Ethanol: After US dumps ethanol on European markets EU hits back with ethanol tariff

U.S. ethanol producers on Tuesday criticized the European Union for imposing a five-year tariff that will drive up the price of American ethanol sold in Europe by about 10 percent, or 25 cents per gallon.

The duty, imposed after an investigation of alleged dumping, will benefit German, French, British and other E.U. renewable energy producers but threatens to raise transatlantic trade tensions. “That shuts us out of the market — we are no longer the lowest-cost fuel on the planet,” Ed Hubbard, general counsel of the U.S. trade group, the Renewable Fuels Association, said in an interview.

The duty of 62.30 euros ($83.20) a metric ton aims to punish U.S. exporters of ethanol for allegedly selling it in Europe below cost, a practice known as dumping.

Read more: E.U. ethanol tariff hits home | StarTribune.com

China Solar Probe A Go In Europe

Chinese solar makers, already hit with duties in the United States, could within nine months face similar trade sanctions in Europe, according to the European Commission, which said today it would launch an antidumping investigation into solar panels and their key components originating in China.

The announcement came in response to a  complaint put forward in July by EU Pro Sun, a group led by SolarWorld, the German company whose Oregon-based U.S. arm has carried the banner in a so-far successful fight against Chinese solar in the United States. EU Pro Sun accuses Chinese companies of selling their products far below cost in the European Union.

The European Commission said the China solar investigation “will take 15 months in total, whereas it is possible according to trade defence rules to impose provisional antidumping duties within nine months, provided there is sufficient prima facie evidence of dumping.”

As in the United States, European solar manufacturers have suffered mightily in the past few years, as China – led by companies such as Yingli Green Energy, Suntech Power Holdings and Trina Solar — has grabbed 80 percent of the market. And the market in Europe is huge, “worth around €21 billion ($26.5 billion) to the EU” in 2011, according to the European Commission, making this what it called “the most significant anti-dumping complaint the European Commission has recived so far.”

Read more: China Solar Probe A Go In Europe | The Energy Collective

China-EU trade war looms over solar energy industry - “China is not competing but breaking the rules" - by Philip Ebels

China and the EU are facing a trade war after a group of European solar panel producers this week lodged an anti-dumping complaint, sparking immediate threats of retaliation.

The complaint comes from Germany's SolarWorld and a newly formed coalition of some 25 companies, according to spokesperson Milan Nitzschke, most of whom choose to remain anonymous "for fear of repression."

The companies accuse China of giving out “immense subsidies”, Nitzschke said, helping its own industry to gain market share in Europe by selling its products at artificially low prices - a practice known as dumping and illegal under international trade law.

Citing Goldman Sachs, they say China’s share of the EU market for crystalline solar modules has increased from 63 percent in 2009 to 80 percent in 2011. Ten years ago, that number was close to zero.

Read more: EUobserver.com / Economic Affairs / China-EU trade war looms over solar energy industry