China Criticizes U.S. Agenda for APEC Summit
BEIJING--Chinese officials on Monday criticized the items on the U.S.'s agenda for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, including proposals on environmental policy and a U.S.-led free trade initiative.</br></br>Wu Hailong, assistant minister of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a news briefing that some U.S. goals for the summit are "too ambitious."</br></br>Specifically, he said the U.S. has proposed lowering tariffs on so-called "environmental goods" to 5% or less by the end of 2012, and also that countries cut their energy intensity, or energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product, to 50% of 2005 levels by 2035.</br></br>Speaking at the same briefing, Yu Jianhua, China's assistant minister of commerce, said U.S. tariffs on a range of "environmental goods" average 1.4%, while the average in China is a tad under 7%.</br></br>"So the problem is, if we set the 5% target, the U.S. wouldn't have to do anything," he said.