Can WTO force China to change its trade practices? US ambassador to the organisation is sceptical
Dennis Shea says a drive to revise World Trade Organisation rules may not force Beijing to modify its practices ‘but that doesn’t mean we should not pursue this approach’
Even as the Trump administration pursues revisions to the World Trade Organisation’s rules, its own ambassador to the global trade body is dubious that they will ultimately change China’s behaviour.
“We're probably a little more sceptical about the viability of the rules to actually significantly modify China's behaviour,” Dennis Shea, deputy US Trade Representative and ambassador to the WTO, said on Friday. “But that does not mean we should not pursue this approach.”
While trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies have mushroomed over the past few months – and as both sides have levied barrages of import tariffs at each other – the US has pursued a series of WTO rule changes intended to force China to end trading practices perceived by many to be unfair.
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The US has joined forces with Japan and the European Union to push for updates to WTO mechanisms that would better challenge China on its use of state subsidies of certain industries and forced technology transfers, as well as its WTO designation as a developing country, which allows China exemptions from certain rules.