Research On The Construction Of China's Trade Adjustment Assistance For Firms Program

In realizing the fact that not everyone would be a winner in the globalization of economy, we find out that some domestic industries in countries have been adversely impacted, to a greater or lesser degree, in the course of opening up and trade expansion. In order to ensure a smooth progress on trade liberalization, trade remedial measures like anti-dumping, countervailing measures or safeguard measures, would limit import in a certain period, and also save time for the development of domestic industries. However, these measures could not provide any substantive assistance to the already damaged domestic industries. In such a situation, a government should take responsibility for helping the industries, enterprises and workers suffered in the global competition in transfer of business and producing industry, as well as helping them regain or restore competitiveness and out of trouble. Trade adjustment assistance is the very trade remedial measure that would help the sufferers out of trouble and regain their momentum. As China steps further into the globalization of economy and accelerate its development, domestic enterprises are facing increasingly intensive competition for imports, which requires a higher level of protection for domestic industries by Chinese government in use of trade remedial measures. Thus, newly legislature is inevitable and in urgent need with which Chinese enterprises would establish a sound response to the economic globalization. In research on establishing the related systems, we would take the US practices on trade adjustment assistance as a good model for learning. This article focuses on the trade adjustment assistance for enterprises and does a thorough analysis in the context of the US trade adjustment assistance program. This article is divided into four chapters, by an analysis both in theory and practice, I have brought some new ideas to establish trade adjustment assistance for firms in China.In the first chapter, the author will introduce the origin and development history of TAA in details, including the economics foundation, legislature background, the 50-year history of revolution and the enforcement of this system in the US. The author sums up some valuable experience from the US practices and also identifies some issues of this system. In the second chapter, the author explores the nexus between trade adjustment assistance for firms and"anti-dumping, countervailing measures, safeguard measures". Either in theory or in practice, the two systems coexist well. Further TAA works as a supplemental system to"anti-dumping, countervailing measures and safeguard measures"."anti-dumping, countervailing measures and safeguard measures"provides a better environment and better conditions for enterprises, which is considered as a remedy in macro-level, while TAA provides a better adjustment program for enterprises, which is seen as a remedy in micro-level. The author clarifies that TAA for enterprises should be designed to abide by WTO-countervailing measures agreement. In the third chapter, the author analyzes the necessity and feasibility of establishing TAA in China. By analyzing the changed framework of imports and exports in China, the acceleration of regional globalization of economy and the limits of trade remedy systems, the author points out that, the enterprises in China encounters most intensive competition of imports ever since and the competition becomes more severe, which evidences the necessity of setting up trade adjustment assistance for enterprises. Meanwhile, China has been qualified to establish related systems, for example, foreign trade law of PRC would be the basis for legislature of TAA, Ministry of Commerce of PRC Bureau of Industry Injury Investigation is exploring this research topic. In this context, the author further analyzes the reasonability of establishing TAA for firms firstly. In the final chapter of this article, the author has brought some new ideas of setting up TAA for firms in current China and provides some specific advice in three aspects, this is, fundamental principles, framework of TAA and supervisory mechanism. Looking forward to a earlier establishment of TAA in China, with it, we would build up a set of trade remedial regulations and put them into practice, in order to further trade liberalization.