United States views new efforts to rein in China’s ‘mercantilist’ trade practices via WTO as ‘unrealistic’
- The US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office has told the United States Congress not to expect success in negotiation of new World Trade Organisation rules
- Last month, the Geneva-based arbiter of trade disputes launched an investigation into US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on US$250 billion of Chinese goods
Negotiating new World Trade Organisation rules to try to rein in China’s “mercantilist” trade practices would be largely a futile exercise, the Trump administration’s trade office said, vowing to pursue its unilateral approach to protect US workers, farmers and businesses.
In an annual report to the United States Congress on China’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) compliance, the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office said it would be “unrealistic to expect success in any negotiation of new WTO rules that would restrict China’s current approach to the economy and trade in a meaningful way.”
Some US allies, including Japan, Canada and the European Union, have begun discussions on the first potential changes and modernisations of WTO rules since the organisation was founded in 1995.
But any WTO rule changes must be agreed by all of the trade body’s 164 member countries, and past efforts have stalled.
The USTR said it is “highly unlikely” that China would agree to new disciplines targeting changes to its trade practices and economic system.
The agency said the United States intends to “hold China accountable” for not adhering to existing WTO rules and “any unfair and market-distorting trade practices that hurt US workers, businesses, farmers or ranchers.”