By Timothy Gardner
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the world tries to forge a new treaty to slow global warming, care must be taken not to spark trade conflicts between rich and developing countries, a key U.S. lawmaker said on Thursday.
"We clearly we do not want to trigger a trade war," Ed Markey, a Democrat who heads the House climate change committee, told reporters in a teleconference.
Already a trade spat has been brewing between interests in China and the United States, the world's two biggest emitters of heat-trapping gases that scientists warn will lead to more deadly droughts, heat waves, and floods.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries will meet in Bonn starting on Sunday for climate talks leading to a conference in Copenhagen in December at which they hope to agree a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
Rich countries have said they will lead the way in making emissions cuts. But how the burden will be divided between rich and poor is unresolved. Developing countries such as China and India have resisted committing to deep cuts, arguing rich countries caused global warming in the first place.
The unsettled matter has made industries in the United States such as steel, cement and chemicals, nervous that if they are required to make deep cuts, and their counterparts in developing nations are not, the higher costs could make them lose market share for their goods.
The industries have urged that tariffs be placed on imports from countries that do not agree to emissions cuts, if the United States does adopt strict cuts.
On the other hand, Chinese climate officials have rejected the idea of carbon tariffs as protectionist. In addition, they have said countries that buy Chinese goods should be held responsible for greenhouse gases released by factories during the making of them in any global plan to slow emissions.
Markey, whose energy and commerce committee is beginning to draft climate legislation, said the issue "will have to be navigated in a very careful way" in the global talks and he expected an agreement would ultimately be reached. He said China will have to take some action. "Clearly this program cannot be a success if China is not participating," Markey said.
In some ways the fact that trade issues are emerging is a sign that the United States and China may begin to get serious about participating in the climate talks. President Barack Obama is eager to show the world that his country wants to take part in a new treaty after the Bush administration rejected the Kyoto Protocol.
"We're standing really at the beginning of a process that is intended to reach an agreement ... that takes trade and competitiveness concerns into account," Yvo de Boer, the head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said in the teleconference.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)