China opposes protectionism in US
Recent moves harmful to global trade: MOFCOM
China strongly opposes US trade protectionism and urges a constructive attitude toward the trade imbalance between the two countries amid uncertainties over bilateral trade frictions in 2018, an official from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said Thursday.
The US Section 301 investigation into alleged intellectual property theft by China, based on the US’ own law, is “harmful to the global trade framework,” said MOFCOM spokesman Gao Feng at a regular press briefing on Thursday.
Gao said China would take all necessary measures to protect the rights of Chinese firms related to the investigation.
The US announced the launch of the investigation in August 2017, and there have been various recent reversals for Chinese firms hoping to do deals in the US. Last week, Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial ended its efforts to acquire US transfer company Moneygram after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) rejected the deal, citing national security concerns.
“This [Section 301] investigation has existed for a long time as a way of implementing trade barriers, and is aimed at protecting local firms,” Hao Junbo, a lawyer at Beijing-based Hao Law Firm, told the Global Times on Thursday.
“In this case, there are no signs, at least for the moment, that the bilateral trade will recover in 2018, especially as the US midterm elections are coming, which means more pressure will be put on the Trump administration,” Hao noted.
“Apart from setting up trade barriers, another US method is its CFIUS review system for foreign firms,” said Hao, noting that the system lacks transparency.
The US protectionist sentiment also appears to be affecting Chinese firms trying to expand overseas.
“It is regrettable to see Chinese firms again being rejected while conducting normal business investments via acquisitions in the US over national security concerns,” Gao said, referring to the Ant FinancialMoneygram deal.
“We have no objections to the necessary security reviews conducted by some countries, but strongly oppose the creation of barriers for foreign companies based on so-called national security concerns,” Gao noted.
He added that the US should create a more fair investment environment for foreign companies, including firms from China.