Long Han SCM Agreement Says “No” to Charges against RMB Exchange Rate as Export Subsidy

Abstract

Recently one of the big charges raised mainly by the US against RMB exchange rate is the so-called undervaluation of RMB exchange rate as constituting a subsidy for China’s exports, the US even threatens to refer it to international or domestic settlement. However, the study on the provisions of subsidy, i.e., financial contribution, benefit conferral and specificity, the SCM Agreement indicates that RMB exchange rate neither constitutes financial contribution in art. 1.1 of the SCM Agreement, nor comes in line with the listings of the Illustrative List of the Agreement. The prevailing exchange rate of RMB is the only benchmark for the measurement of the value of RMB except that no other methods are available to be used to properly determine whether RMB exchange rate confers any benefit to exporters. As regards specificity requirement, RMB exchange rate is unspecific, on the contrary, it is among the policy measures for the government to regulate economy.

Key words： RMB exchange rate; export subsidy; financial contribution; benefit conferral; specificity