THE United States will bar cargo flights by two Chinese airlines in two weeks' time in retaliation for Beijing's restrictions on an American freight carrier, the US Administration said.
''We encouraged all the carriers to reach an agreement on their own. But we can no longer wait,'' said Transportation Secretary Federico Pena on Friday.
''We will continue to protect US carriers against discriminatory conduct by foreign carriers and governments,'' he added.
Observers are concerned that the aviation dispute will put pressure on deteriorating Sino-US relations.
Murray Bailey, editor of Travel Business Analyst, said: ''It is just a little argument between two countries. I don't think it will turn out to be a political issue. It is purely an aviation matter.'' The US transport department on July 29 threatened sanctions against two Chinese cargo carriers - Air China and China Eastern - in response to a complaint from a US carrier, Evergreen International Airlines.
Evergreen said the Chinese were violating a Sino-US agreement by threatening its customers with retaliation if the shippers continued doing business with it.
According to reports, Chinese airlines have also told shippers that foreign carriers would not be allowed to transport more than 30 per cent of freight outbound from China.
