Ricardo Mewes, president of the CPC, called on the Chilean Foreign Ministry to enter into diplomatic dialogue with its Chinese counterpart and, thus, iron out acrimonies that may have arisen after the decision to impose surcharges on Chinese steel.

The president of the Confederation of Production and Commerce of Chile (CPC), Ricardo Mewes, commented on the statements made by the Chinese ambassador to Chile, Niu Qingbao, in the Economy Commission of the Chilean Senate.

In this way, he called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enter into diplomatic dialogue with its Chinese counterpart and, thus, iron out acrimonies that may have arisen after the decision to impose surcharges on steel from that country, in order to avoid negative effects. negative in some exports such as cherries.

According to the representative of the Asian nation in the Commission of the Upper House: “this action (the surcharges) only considers the demands for protection of the national industry, which contradicts the declaration of the Chilean government in 2004 to recognize China as an economy. market, and also does not comply with the rules of the WTO (World Trade Organization).”

RICARDO MEWES CALLS FOR DIPLOMATIC DIALOGUE WITH CHINESE AMBASSADOR

Now, in an interview for Radio Infinita , the representative of the business community said that now it is the turn of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (RREE) to dialogue with its Chinese counterpart, and thus seek diplomatic solutions in this regard.

“We have an institutional framework, given within the framework of the agreement signed by Chile and China. Beyond the ambassador's observations (...) it seems to me that, given the situation we are experiencing, it is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is otherwise the one who negotiates the agreements and the institutional framework on behalf of Chile, and there are the mechanisms to resolve these controversies. It seems to me that this is the instance that should move forward today,” said Mewes.

Along these lines, the president of the CPC stressed the importance of smoothing out differences between both nations on economic issues, given that Chile occupies a predominant place in some exports to the Asian giant, such as the issue of cherries and others. natural resources.

CHILEAN CHERRY: AN EXPORT STANDS OUT TO CHINA

According to data from ProChile, for the November 2023 to March 2024 season, Chilean cherry exports to China grew by 16% to US$2.26 billion. At the beginning of the year, the Cherry Express route was inaugurated, allowing this fruit to arrive directly to the port of Tianjing, close to the capital Beijing, highlighted the general director of the organization, Ignacio Fernández, in a statement.

This is why the Chilean cherry has become a star product in the Chinese domestic market, appearing in “different market channels, such as specialized stores, but also supermarkets or e-commerce or delivery platforms,” underlined the ProChile commercial attaché. in Beijing, Natalia Cortés.

In this context, Mewes maintained that, after the implementation of antidumping measures on Chinese steel products (and the inconvenience that has been seen in this regard), effects could be seen on the export of cherries.

“Let's not forget that Chile is the world's largest exporter of cherries, and clearly it could have an economic effect from that point of view. It seems to me that, at least, there is a yellow light here and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the one that should take these statements from the ambassador and see how they are resolved diplomatically, which is what Chile has done historically," concluded the president of the CPC.

"CHINESE COMPANIES DO NOT DO DUMPING"

Previously, the ambassador spoke with Radio Bío Bío in the context of the Foreign Ministry's Public Account, where he reiterated that companies in his country “do not dump,” and that government subsidies for steel do not exist.

On the contrary, he maintained that Chinese companies “are simply much more effective and efficient in production.” For this reason, he considers that the decision of the surcharges of 24.9% and 33.5% "is unfair." All in all, relations between both countries would be on good terms and in a “perfect, very good” way.

From the Communications office of the Chilean Foreign Ministry, they responded to the statements of the ambassador of the Asian country, during his time at the Senate Economy Commission.

In this regard, they stated that “the National Anti-Distortion Commission is the one that determined the measures that established that steel balls of Chinese origin were dumped. This commission is a technical body, whose operation is regulated by Law."

“Their resolutions are based on technical arguments and in accordance with our State policies,” they concluded.