China's largest television maker, Sichuan Changhong Electric, has warned its exports will drop 25 per cent this year, hit largely by punitive import tariffs imposed by the United States on televisions made in the mainland.
Chairman and chief executive Ni Runfeng said exports were forecast to fall to about US$600 million from $780 million last year.
'We have been unfairly treated in the US market,' Mr Ni told a Sichuan province symposium in Hong Kong yesterday, citing the 27 per cent import tariff the US had imposed on China-made sets and intense pressure, also by the US, on the yuan to appreciate.
'That meant an appreciation of the yuan's value by about 22 per cent against the [US] dollar, effectively hurting our exports,' Mr Ni said.
China is the world's largest television manufacturer, churning out 18.8 million units a year with a total value of US$2.14 billion last year.
Changhong and other mainland television producers have been flooded with anti-dumping actions levelled against them by labour unions and manufacturers in major overseas markets, including Europe and the US, which accuse them of selling goods below cost.