China Daily (Hong Kong)

Trump trade action could hinder ties Anticipate­d US investigat­ion targeting China’s practices an ‘abuse of status’

- By JING SHUIYU and ZHONG NAN

China has put a strong emphasis on intellectu­al property rights protection­s and urged all WTO members to respect the rules of the organizati­on, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday as US President Donald Trump prepares to launch a broad investigat­ion into China’s trade policies.

“China and US trade cooperatio­n is the ‘ballast and propeller’ of bilateral relations and is mutually beneficial. We hope the two countries will continue on a path of cooperatio­n,” Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a news conference.

Trump is expected to make a speech and sign a memorandum at the White House on Friday targeting China’s intellectu­al property and trade practices, the CNBC news channel reported.

The Trump administra­tion is considerin­g initiating an investigat­ion into Chinese trade practices under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. It allows the head of state to unilateral­ly impose tariffs or other trade restrictio­ns to protect US industries from unfair trade practices of foreign countries.

Since t he World Trade Organizati­on was establishe­d in 1995, US Section 301 investigat­ions have not led to trade sanctions. It was adopted to levy tariffs against Japanese motorcycle­s, steel and other products in the 1980 s.

If the US initiates an investigat­ion under Section 301, that would indicate that it wants to replace internatio­nal law with its domestic law, said Zhao Ping, director of the department of internatio­nal trade research at the China Council for the Promotion of Internatio­nal Trade.

“The move would be unreasonab­le and violate internatio­nal practice,” she said. “A US attempt to use unilateral­ism to override multilater­al rules would be an abuse of its status as a superpower on t he world stage. It would show disrespect for other countries.”

The Trump administra­tion might do so partly because it is looking to “divert attention from his (Trump’s) domestic economic weakness,” she added.

China and the US agreed to initiate a comprehens­ive 100day action plan to address the trade imbalance in April. Under the plan, China will resume US beef imports and allow rice imports for the first time.

China-US trade volume reached 1.85 trillion yuan ($272 billion) in the first half of this year, up 21.3 percent year-on-year, according to the General Administra­tion of Customs.

Such a policy against China could “definitely harm workers and entreprene­urs in both countries”, said Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Internatio­nal Trade and Economic Cooperatio­n.

Wei Jianguo, vice-president of the China Center for Internatio­nal Economic Exchanges, said C hina’s impor ts from the US will increase faster than its exports in the second half of 2017, so the US trade def- icit with China is likely to be narrowed.

Wei said that the US is expected to overtake the European Union as China’s largest trade partner this year with such growth.

“The world economy is currently on track to recover, but uncertain and unstable fac- tors still exist,” said Gao.

“We are willing to work together with the US to jointly promote China-US economic and trade relations, as well as to inject fresh vitality into the world economy.”

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