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U TRADE ACTION UNIONFILES


Pressure onWhiteHouse to pushmatter inWTO


BY HOWARD SCHNEIDER TheUnited Steelworkers union


launched a broad challenge Thursday against China, alleging that it is illegally helping its com- panies seize a dominant market share of the renewable energy in- dustry through an extensive arse- nal of subsidies and trade restric- tions. Themove targets China’s prac-


tices in a sector that President Obama has said is critical to the renewal of the struggling U.S. economy.But the complaint could also generate controversy for the White House ahead of the mid- termelections inNovember. The country’s trade deficitwith


China is a sensitive issue for some voters, particularly in regions of the country where factories have been closing. New trade data re- leased Thursday showed that the overallU.S. tradedeficitnarrowed in July, and exports rebounded after a June decline. But the monthly trade shortfall with Chi- naremained,at$25.9billion,near anall-timehigh. TheObama administration has


45 days to decide whether to ac- cept the steel union’s complaint, which was filed with the office of the U.S. trade representative. It then would have to pursue the matterwith China and perhaps in theWorldTradeOrganization—a decision that would come just days before the elections. Follow- ingtheunion’s filing, severalDem- ocratic lawmakers lauded the ef- fort, an indication of how much political pressure will be on the WhiteHouse topursue thematter. Inits complaint, the steelunion


claims that China flouts WTO rules by subsidizing companies that export solar panels,wind tur- bines and other “green energy” products, blocking imports of those goods fromother countries, andrestricting the sale ofhard-to- obtainminerals that foreign ener- gy companiesneedto compete. The union is asking theObama


administration to open talkswith theChineseunderaprocessestab- lished by the WTO, and if those negotiations fail, to pursue the


FENG LI/GETTY IMAGES Workers assemble wind turbines at XinjiangGoldwind Science&Technology’s facility inUrumqi, China.


matter with a formal WTO com- plaint. The steel union officials said they had kept administration officials informed of their plans to pursue the complaint, buthadnot discussedthe timingor coordinat- edthe effortwiththem. “These practices have enabled


China to emerge as a dominant supplier of green technology,” with an estimated 50 percent shareofworldsolarpanelproduc- tion, USW President Leo Gerard said in a conference call Thursday morning. “It’s a direct violation of the obligations China undertook whenit joinedtheWTO.” USTR spokeswoman Nefeteri-


us McPherson said the agency “will review the petition in accor- dance with established proce- dures.” Wang Baodong, a spokesman


for China’s embassy in theUnited States, said that some of the same industries targeted by the USW complaint import higher-end components from American firms, benefittingU.S.workers. In the USW briefing, union officials noted that some Chinese energy firmshadestablishedplants inthe United States — a development theunionsaiditwelcomed. “We. . .hopesomepeopleinthe


U.S. will take a rational attitude toward this matter, by focusing more on ways to enhancing bilat- eral cooperation rather than cre- ating obstacles,”Wang said. The United States has imposed


duties ondozens ofChinese goods incaseswhere productswere sub- sidizedbyChinaorunfairlypriced and “dumped” on theU.S.market. But the case brought by the steel union is much broader, alleging that an entire industry has been sheltered by a network of govern- ment support that crimps U.S. manufacturers’sabilitynotonlyto compete in their ownmarket, but also to export to othernations. Gerard said unionized steel,


aluminum, glass and other plants have lost thousands of jobs toChi- nese manufacturers in recent years. The complaint cited five broad areas in which the union arguesthatChina’spoliciesviolate WTO rules—fromexport restric- tions on rare-earth elements that other countries need for renew- able energy products, to unfair subsidies and financing arrange- ments for Chinese exporters. In somecases,Gerardsaid,U.S. firms that establish joint ventures with Chinese companies must hand over technologies anddesigns as a


conditionofdoing business. “As they steal the technology


and force the companies toChina, they are locking down” research and development,Gerard said. “If we arenotgoingtodosolarpanels and fluorescent bulbs and wind turbines here, thenext generation ofRandDwillnot behere.” Treasury Department and oth-


er U.S. officials have tried to han- dle some of the more sensitive economic issues between the two countries through negotiations. The administration has pressed China, for example, to change its currency policies. But it so far has refrained fromusingU.S. laws de- signed to punish countries that manipulate exchange rates. While Thursday’s trade data


showed that the bilateral trade deficit with China remains high, Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez noted that the overall numbers showed “very bright spots” for U.S. exports to fast- growing Asian and Latin Ameri- can nations. He added that ex- ports throughoutmajor southeast Asian nations were up 40 percent thisyearamidstrongregionaleco- nomic growth. schneiderh@washpost.com


The one App Store rule that matters: It’s up to Apple


But at least it’s shedding a little more light onwhy some apps make it and others get left out. That’s thenet effect of two


A


unexpectedmoves fromApple on Thursday.First, it repealed a prohibitionondevelopers converting softwarewrittenfor other smartphones to runonits iPhone, iPodTouchand iPad. Second, it finally documented the hitherto inscrutable rules governingwhether anew programwillmake it into itsApp Store. The changes take some of the


risk out of developing programs for theCupertino,Calif., company’smobile devices—the App Store is the only easyway for users to addnon-Apple software to the iPhone, iPodTouchand iPad, so a rejectionamounts to a deathsentence for aniPhone app. Althoughthe revised rules give


developersmore roomtowork with, they leave enoughspace for Apple to reject a programfor any reasonit sees fit. Inotherwords:No, you’re still


not going to seeAdobe’sFlash Player running onthe iPhone or the iPad anytime soon. Youmight,however, see Flash


games and applications showup onthe iPhone faster.That’s courtesy of a seeminglyminor change announced inthe third paragraphofApple’s shortnews release: “Inparticular,we are relaxing


all restrictions onthe development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps donot download any code.” Thatwonky languagewill open


the door for developers to convert AdobeFlashapplications to run onthe iPhone—not the same as theFlashPlayer running onthe iPhone—using the tool kitAdobe shipped earlier this year. It should also be easier to convert


Presumably, aKoran-burning


pple is still keeping tight control over the universe of programs for the iPhone.


ROB PEGORARO Fast Forward


programswrittenforGoogle’s increasinglywidely usedAndroid operating system. Translated fromdeveloper-


speak, itmeans thatAppleno longer demands aniPhone-first development policy.Asoftware shop canship a programfor Android or any other smartphone operating system, see if itworks, and then“port” it over to the iPhone—instead ofhaving to write the applicationfirst for the iPhone andhopeApple approves it.


Another change inApple’s


developer agreementwill soften anin-app advertising policy, allowing developerswhowant to subsidize a free appwith advertising revenue to use Google’sAdMob service instead ofApple’s iAds. As for the “published”App


StoreReviewguidelines, you need anApple developer’s log-in to read them.But a friend sent along the text of this 3,020-word document; itmakes for some interesting reading. Many of these rules are


common-sense guidelines:An app can’t crash, lie about its functions, steal a user’s data, violate a user’s privacy, encourage a user toharmother users, rely on internal iOS features thatApple hasn’t documented for public use, and so on. But thenthere are these other


clauses among the 113 listed in the document;my take oneach follows. “2.11Apps that duplicate apps


already intheApp Storemay be rejected, particularly if there are


many of them.” Butwhat if anewapp is better


thana flock of existing ones? “2.12Apps that arenot very


useful or donot provide any lasting entertainment valuemay be rejected.” Using flexiblewords like “very”


or “lasting” givesApple enormous latitude inenforcing this. “9.3Audio streaming content


over a cellularnetworkmaynot usemore than5MBover 5 minutes.” Here,Apple seems to be


throwing a bone to itswireless partner,AT&T. “14.1Any app that is


defamatory, offensive,mean- spirited, or likely to place the targeted individual or group in harm’swaywill be rejected.” I’mnot surehowanapp


versionofmy (sometimesmean- spirited) blogwould fare. “14.2Professional political


satirists andhumorists are exempt fromthe banonoffensive ormean-spirited commentary.” Oh,nevermind—I think. “15.3 ‘Enemies’withinthe


context of a game cannot solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity.” This seems to rule out shipping


aniPhone game inwhichyou hunt downand killOsama bin Laden. “19.2Appsmay containor


quote religious text provided the quotes or translations are accurate andnotmisleading. Commentary should be educational or informative rather thaninflammatory.”


appwouldn’t be acceptable either. Themost important parts of


the reviewguidelines,however, come inthe surprisinglynon- lawyerly text at the top that lays outApple’s general thoughts.For instance: “Wehave over 250,000 apps in


theApp Store.We don’tneed any more Fart apps. If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some formof lasting entertainment, itmaynot be accepted. “If yourApp looks like itwas


cobbled together ina fewdays, or you’re trying to get your first practiceApp into the store to impress your friends, please brace yourself for rejection.Wehave lots of serious developerswho don’twant their qualityApps to be surrounded by amateurhour.” But if you readnothing else in


the document, focus onthis one paragraph: “Wewill rejectApps for any


content or behavior thatwe believe is over the line.What line, you ask?Well, as a SupremeCourt justice once said, ‘I’ll knowit whenI see it.’Andwe think that youwill also knowitwhenyou cross it.” (That sectionalso counsels


developers to take their case to Apple’sReviewBoard,not the public: “If you runto the press and trashus, itneverhelps.”But so far,making a fuss inthemedia has beenone of the onlyways to reverse anApp Store rejection.) The simplest interpretationof


this document’s litany of rules is thatApplewants to legislate its way out of Sturgeon’sLaw—the oft-quotedmaximthat “90 percent of everything is crud.” That is a laudable goal.But ina


world populated exclusively by falliblehumanbeings, it’s an impossible one.Not everybody canbe above average, evenif they all use iPhones.


robp@washpost.com


l Lockheed gets $23 million in defense deals: Defense contrac- tor Lockheed Martin Corp. has landed contracts from the Navy and Air Force valued at about $23 million combined, the Defense Department said Thursday. The company’s Mission Systems & Sensors division in Moorestown, N.J., received a $12.1 million con- tract from the Navy for manage- ment and engineering services re- lated to the DDG 51 class combat system compartments and top- side arrangements. The Air Force


awarded Lockheed’s Aeronautics Co., of FortWorth, an $11 million contract to add composite blade seals to an existing contract for F-22 fighter jet support.


l EBaywinsCraigslist lawsuit: In a skirmish between two Internet heavy hitters with a tangled rela- tionship, eBay has convinced a court that itwaswronged by anti- takeovermoves adopted by Craig- slist after eBay started encroach- ing onits online classifieds turf. —Fromnews services


Ezra Klein ECONOMIC AND DOMESTIC POLICY Excerpt from voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein


TheKeynesianexperiment Ithas become commontohearRepublicans saying thatDemocrats’


“Keynesianexperiment,” or inPaulRyan’s case, their “Neo-Keynesian economic experiment,”has failed.You’dthink thatKeynesian economicswas a bigdivide betweentheparties.But itwasn’t andit’s not. InJanuary 2008,GeorgeW.Bushsigned$152 billionintax-cut-


drivenstimulus.As the economyworsened, JohnMcCainproposed $450 billionmore instimulus, thisplandrivenby apayroll tax cut.Now you’ve gotMitchDanielsproposing something similar. Thepartiesdisagree ona lot of things, but theydon’tdisagree over


the idea that the government shouldact to increasedemandwhenthe economy sags.The theory behindapayroll-tax cut (the government increases itsdeficit to getmoremoney topeoplewho canspendit so theywill increasedemand) andaninfrastructure investment (the government increases itsdeficit to getmoremoney to businesseswho canspendit) isnot theoretical, butpractical:Do youthink one ismore stimulative thanthe other, anddo youthink one ismoreworthwhile thanthe other? Partieshave trouble opposing thingsmildly. “The stimuluswas a


sensible idea but imperfectly structured” isnot a great election message. So insteadwe get sinister-sounding lines like “Neo-Keynesian economic experiment.”That’s goodfor convincing the base, andeven some other voters, but theproblemis you’ve thenconvincedthe base andothers ofmore thanyou’ve reallymeant to, andthat ties yourhands whenyoucome into office andhave to embrace some of thosepolicies. Yousawanexample of thiswiththe individualhealth-insurance


mandate.BarackObama opposeditduring theprimary campaign. Thenhe got into office, lookedat thepolicy andrealizedheneededit. Buthis argumentsdidn’t go away:His critics onthe left justusedthem againsthim.


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V U.S. steelworkers target China ECONOMY


Number of new jobless claims drops for week The number of people who


filed new claims for unemploy- ment benefits fell in the latest week, reversing a recent run-up that stoked concerns of aweaken- ing jobsmarket. New unemployment applica-


tions shot as high as 504,000 in mid-August, but this week’s num- ber ismore than 10 percent lower at 451,000, data from the Labor Department shows. One potentially big caveat


about the jobs data is distortion caused by the Labor Day holiday. California and Virginia supplied estimates instead of actual data, while the federalgovernment esti- mated the claims of seven other states. Yet even with the larger-than-


FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010


10-YEAR TREASURY DOWN$8.40 PER $1,000, 2.76% YIELD


CURRENCIES $1 = 83.85 YEN; EURO = $1.270


DIGEST


expecteddrop,claimsarenolower than theywere at the end of 2009. The number of new filings each weekhashoveredaround450,000 the entire year. The LaborDepartment report-


ed that the number of workers who continued to receive state unemployment checks fell by 2,000 to 4.48 million in the week ended Aug. 28. The four-week av- erage of continuing claims fell 3,250 to 4.49 million, the lowest level sinceDecember 2008. Altogether, about 9.67 million


people were collecting some un- employment benefits in the week ended Aug. 21, compared with about 9.73 million in the prior week.


—McClatchyNewspapers


Bank ofAmerica to offer video advisers Bank of America is preparing


to test some new changes in its branches, letting customers videoconference with financial advisers and moving other advis- ers directly into the branches to make themmore accessible. In January, the bank will con-


vert about adozenbranches inthe Washington area and Los Angeles into “specialty stores”; it also


plans to eventually open more across the country. Bank officials say the stores


will help themfinally leverage the capabilities of mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp., which the bank bought in 2008, and investment bank Merrill Lynch,whichit bought in2009. —McClatchyNewspapers


LEON NEAL/AGENCE-FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES GOLDMANSACHSFINE $27million ALSOINBUSINESS


Below, a security guard tries to stop a photographer fromtaking pictures of the offices ofGoldman Sachs in central London. A Britishwatchdog hit the iconicWall Street bankGoldman Sachswith a $27million fine Thursday for information failures tied to U.S. fraud charges. The Financial Services Authority said the finewas for “weaknesses in controls resulting in failure to provide FSAwith appropriate information.”


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