Chinese Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Sun
Zhenyu, on Wednesday voiced China's concerns over US trade policies
and urged the US to respond to these issues.
"While we have full confidence in further developing bilateral
economic and trade relations China has some concerns about US trade
policies," Sun told a World Trade Organization?review of US
trade policy in the past two years.
He said China's major concerns include the "twin deficits" of
trade and finance, fulfillment of transparency obligations, fair
implementation of anti-dumping measures and foreign investment
restrictions in the service sector.
According to Sun, the US, the most frequent user of the WTO
dispute settlement mechanism, is always quick to demand compliance
from others when WTO rulings are in its favor but fails to meet WTO
"prompt compliance" requirements when rulings are against its
interests.
He also accused the US of undermining the world trading system
by using national security concerns "in an excessive way" to get
around the rules saying that stance had significantly affected the
normal operation of international trade and foreign direct
investment (FDI) flows.
"Recently the US exerted pressure and imposed restrictions on
inward FDI on account of national security which prevents foreign
companies from seeking mergers and acquisitions within the
country," he said. "These have dealt heavy blows to members'
confidence in the business environment of the US."?
"By interpreting and applying WTO national security clauses in
an excessive way it has again seriously undermined the credibility
of the multilateral trade regime over which China is highly
concerned," he stressed.
Sun also pointed out that it was not wise for the US to restrict
the export of high-tech products to China as it had deprived many
American high-tech enterprises of opportunities to do business with
the country.
"This policy not only harmed the interests of American exporters
but also made the trade deficit situation even worse between the
two countries," he said.
Sun also criticized the frequent use of anti-dumping measures by
the US and noted that quite a number of these practices were not
consistent with WTO anti-dumping rules.
He also urged the US to assume greater responsibility in pushing
forward the Doha round of global trade negotiations which is
expected to conclude by the end of this year but huge challenges
still remain.
The US should take further steps forward in cutting domestic
support for agriculture thereby making due contributions to the
progress of the Doha negotiations, he said.
All WTO members undergo periodic reviews of their trade policies
by the Geneva-based body and China was not the only one to express
concerns over the US trade policies especially its use of national
security concerns as a reason to block trade deals.
The EU, the biggest trading partner of the US, noted in a
statement to the WTO that there was a need to strike "a better
balance" between security concerns and avoiding "unnecessary and
costly burdens" to legitimate business.?
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2006)