Now that the Westpac Farms formerly owned by the Crafar Family have been sold to Chinese interests, we can safely following China’s footsteps and tell the European countries imposing carbon taxes on airline to sod off. We can now claim to be doing it in the “spirit of cooperation” with our FTA partner:
China has banned its airlines from paying charges on carbon emissions imposed by the European Union.
The charges that took effect last month are aimed at curbing emissions of climate-changing gases but airlines say they are an improper tax. Dozens of countries including the US, China and Russia oppose them. New Zealand has also raised concerns.
The official Xinhua news agency quoted the Civil Aviation Administration of China as saying the airlines are not allowed to pay the tax or add other fees without government permission. The ratings agency Fitch warned in December that the conflict could spiral into a global trade dispute. The same month a European court rejected a lawsuit brought by US airlines.
Beijing could have unusually strong leverage in a possible dispute because its state-owned airlines carry large numbers of Chinese and other Asian tourists to Europe. Any disruption would hurt Europe’s travel industry when the continent is struggling with a debt crisis and high unemployment.
Air New Zealand is majority owned by the government, easy peasy. Mega brownies points on offer from our Chinese friends.
