Enraged US and EU confront China at the World Trade Organization
The Office of US Trade Representative, in its annual report on Chinese compliance with World Trade Organization rules, said on Wednesday that China was not keeping the promises it made when it joined the 164-country Geneva-based agency in 2001 to open its markets to the foreign competition.
The US (United States) has repeatedly accused China of failing to meet its commitments to the World Trade Organization, also stating that they (US) are currently exploring new ways to thwart aggressive Chinese trade practices.
Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative, said, “China has instead retained and expanded its state-led, non-market approach to the economy and trade. China’s policies and practices challenge the premise of the WTO’s rules and cause serious harm to workers and businesses around the world.”
According to the US, China uses subsidies and regulations to favor its own companies at the expense of its foreign competitors. It floods world markets with aluminum, cheap steel, and other products, forcing the US and other foreign companies to hand over the prized technology as the price of access to Chinese markets.
“China’s leadership appears confident in its state-led, non-market approach to the economy and the trade and feels no need to conform to global norms.” said the U.S. report.
Without offering any particulars, the report said that the U.S. is exploring new ways
“to use domestic trade tools strategically as needed in order to achieve a more level playing field with China for U.S. workers and businesses.”
In addition to this, it is also working with allies and through the WTO to put pressure on the Chinese Government. The U.S. trade office also mentioned continuing to talk to China about “obtaining a real change in its economic and trade regime.”
Ex-President Donald Trump, vocalizing similar complaints about China, had imposed taxes on about $360 billion worth of Chinese imports to the United States. The Biden government is still administering those tariffs. But in an attempt to reduce tensions between the two countries, the U.S. and China reached a so-called PHASE 1 trade agreement in January 2020.
The Chinese had agreed to step up, among other things, the purchases of U.S. farm exports. But last week, Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Trade calculated that China had only bought 57% of U.S. exports it had earlier committed to purchase.
Furthermore, on Friday, the EU challenged China at the WTO by accusing Bejing of preventing European tech companies from using foreign courts to defend their patents.
The manufacturing of all the high-tech products ranging from phones to electric cars requires an enormous amount of patented technology. For years, Chinese companies have been accused of violating these patent terms.
Since 2020, the EU said that the courts in China were continuously using threats of heavy fines and other legal decisions against EU companies that took their grievances to other courts around the world.
Valdis Dombrovskis, EU executive vice president, said in a statement, “EU companies have a right to seek justice on fair terms when their technology is used illegally. That is why we are launching WTO consultations today.”
EU- China ties have become increasingly choleric over time, and the most recent salvo came weeks after Brussels registered a separate case at WTO over accusations that EU member state Bejing was illegally punishing Lithuania over its stance on Taiwan.
The harshest critics believe of Bejing that the courts are being instrumentalized to benefit Chinese manufacturers, cut the price of patents, and in the use of intellectual property, promote China as a global trendsetter.
Edited by: Mahi Gupta
Published by: Vishakha Verma
