US ramps up pressure on China, rejecting market economy status at WTO
Analysts say relations between world’s two biggest economies will be put to the test as US takes action on trade
The United States on Thursday told the World Trade Organisation it opposed giving China market economy status, as Washington continues to ramp up the pressure on Beijing.
Washington’s rejection of Beijing’s bid to be recognised as a market economy came just days after the US Commerce Department launched a “self-initiated” anti-dumping investigation into Chinese aluminium alloy sheet – the first time the US has taken such an action against a trading partner since 1991.
Chinese analysts expected relations between the world’s two biggest economies would be put to the test as the US took action, but they said an all-out trade war remained unlikely.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular briefing on Friday that the US practice of using a third country to measure the cost of Chinese products in anti-dumping cases must end, and that its opposition to granting China market economy status harked back to the cold war.
China would see much lower anti-dumping duties imposed on its goods if it was deemed a market economy because that status would mean it was not subject to third-country price comparisons.