US to launch trade action on China over intellectual property rights

WASHINGTON The United States will launch a trade action next week that could lead to a fullfledged investigation into China’s “unreasonable or discriminatory” intellectual property laws, policies and practices that harmful to America, with the possibility of punitive follow-up measures including sanctions.

President Donald Trump will sign an executive memorandum on Monday directing the US trade representative to “determine” whether to investigate any of China’s laws, policies, practices, or actions may be unreasonable or discriminatory and may be harming American intellectual property, innovation and technology”, a senior administration official told reporters on Saturday.

Should the trade representative make the determination that an investigation was in order, it will have “broad powers to use all applicable measures including but not limited to Section 301,” the official said.

Under Section 301 of the US Trade Act 1974, the US commerce department website said, the United States can “impose trade sanctions on foreign countries that either violate trade agreements or engage in other unfair trade practices”. The US could take its case to the World Trade Organization, or settle it outside. The official said a decision had not been taken in that regard and offered no timelines.