Ambassador's visit reiterates China's interest in border area
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Article Launched:04/01/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

The whirlwind visit of Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong to the El Paso Country Club on Thursday night is an official sign of an ongoing interest by Chinese investors in the border.
Manuel Ochoa, vice president of binational development for the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corp., said several Chinese companies that make appliances, electronics and electronic components have contacted his office for information and visits.

"They understand that if they want to reach the U.S. market, they have to manufacture close to the U.S. market. Here is how we get into the game," Ochoa said.

Thursday, Zhou spoke to business leaders about U.S.-China economic relations.

China is the second-largest U.S. trading partner behind Canada and holds more than $350 billion of U.S. debt.

During a short news conference after the private dinner, Zhou addressed concerns that China keeps its currency, the yuan, undervalued, giving its exporters an unfair price advantage. Chinese officials have said that they are slowly raising the value of the yuan, but U.S. manufacturers complained the process is not fast enough.

"It is part of the financial reform," Zhou said in El Paso. "We will carry that reform to the end. On the other hand, we also feel that the pace of it should be appropriate and it should suit the world's economy and the interests of China."

The next day, the U.S. Commerce Department decided to levy new duties on imports from China to compensate for Chinese subsidies to exporters, the Associated Press reported. Concern that the decision might provoke trade tension with China sent stocks down and the dollar lower.

Zhou also criticized the United States' unofficial trade relations with Taiwan, attendees said.




A better way: The method Customs and Border Protection officials use to estimate wait times at El Paso's international bridges is not completely reliable. Currently, CBP officers poll a few motorists every hour, but the drivers tend to guess how long they've been waiting. In general you don't make a note of the exact time when you got in line, CBP port director David Longoria said at a news conference last week.
Motorists have complained of waiting times far exceeding the reported times posted online at www.cbp.gov.

So CBP is trying a new way.

"We're meeting with officials from Aduana (Mexican Customs) to set up a calculation system using where the line starts. We'll put mile markers on the Mexican side. We'll contact them every hour to ask them at what mile marker the line is," Longoria said.




Traffic jam: The pilot program to allow 100 pre-screened Mexican trucking companies to drive beyond border zones in El Paso and elsewhere is in jeopardy. In a release, the Teamsters union said the Senate's supplementary spending measure passed last week included a measure that could delay the program until U.S. trucks have equal access to Mexico. Meanwhile, House Democrats have introduced a bill that would also delay Mexican trucks' access.
One of the new bills would require criminal and terrorist background checks of Mexican truck drivers wanting access to the U.S.; the other asks for more information about the Mexican truck program.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/business/ci_5568524