Recently, there have been some twists and turns in Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations. On March 22, US time, US President Trump signed a formal memorandum of trade with China at the White House, announcing that it will be possible to impose tariffs on about 60 billion U.S. dollars of goods imported from China. And restricting Chinese companies’ investment in M&A in the United States. According to the White House press release, the United States will impose a 25% tariff on products such as aerospace, information and communications technology, and machinery.
On the morning of March 29, the Ministry of Commerce held the first regular press conference since the United States unilaterally provoked a trade dispute with China. Sino-US trade issues have become the focus of attention. At the meeting, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce focused on Sino-US trade frictions. Relevant focus issues respond as follows:
Ministry of Commerce Press Spike
Reporter: According to recent news, U.S. trade representative Letssiah said that the number of U.S.-listed tariffs for public goods will be extended from 30 days to 60 days, which means that China will not be able to report to China before June this year. Related products to collect duties, what does this Ministry of Commerce look at?
peak: Regarding the trade friction between China and the United States, China’s position has not changed. We hope that the United States will recognize the situation and adapt to the historical trend of economic globalization and trade and investment liberalization. We urge the US to abandon the unilateralism, trade protectionism, and take practical measures. Dialogue and negotiation will resolve differences and truly safeguard the good situation of Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation.
Reporter: Some people think that the opening of the Chinese market is less than expected. Failure to earnestly fulfill the WTO commitment to reduce tariffs will lead to the US launching a “trade war” against China. What response does the Ministry of Commerce have to this?
peak: This statement is completely inconsistent with the facts. Since China's accession to the WTO, it has faithfully and comprehensively fulfilled its various commitments to join and the market has been continuously open.
In fulfilling the WTO’s reduction of tariff commitments, China’s total tariff level has dropped from 15.3% at the time of accession to 9.8%, fulfilling its commitment to all members of the WTO and meeting and exceeding WTO requirements for developing member countries. To the trade structure factor, China’s actual trade-weighted average tax rate is only 4.4%, which is already very close to that of developed countries. The U.S. trade-weighted actual import tariff rate is 2.4%, EU is 3%, and Australia is 4%.
In addition to fulfilling the commitment to join, China also reduced the import tariffs of 201 IT products according to the results of the “Information Technology Agreement” expansion negotiations. To further open up the market, China has also actively lowered the import tariff on some commodities in recent years. Premier Li Keqiang also emphasized at this year's 'two sessions' press conference that China will further expand its opening up and continue to further reduce the overall tax rate of imported goods in a more open posture.
What I want to emphasize is that the series of measures adopted by the United States on China’s economic and trade issues are typical of trade protectionism, a Cold War mentality, and a zero-sum consciousness. Do not use China as an excuse. China’s determination and confidence in opening up the market to the outside world We have not changed, and we are more determined. We will not change our course because of external pressure. We hope that the United States will not stick to it and return to the correct track of cooperation and win-win between China and the United States.
Reporter: We know that the United States promised in the "Accounting Explanation" of the Uruguay Round Agreement Act that the unfair trade practices covered by the WTO rules will resort to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and will no longer apply to the 301 investigation in the United States. According to 301, the investigation of unilateral tariffs imposed on China violates WTO rules and related commitments. In addition, we learned that both China and the United States have debated under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. The US argues that there has been a clear violation of intellectual property rights in China under the WTO framework. The lawsuit was brought by the act, but other accusations against China by the United States are not related to the WTO. What is the Ministry of Commerce's comment on this? If the assessment of the Chinese government’s behavior by the US 301 investigation is not within the scope of the WTO rules, how can it be? deal with?
peak: The United States imposed tariffs on China in accordance with the '301 investigation' is a flagrant violation of its WTO international obligations. According to Article 1 of the GATT 1994, the U.S. tariff treatment granted to the Chinese side cannot be lower than that granted to other WTO members. Article 2 The U.S. side’s tariff treatment to China cannot be higher than the level of restraint in its schedule of concessions. The U.S. side’s practice is in violation of the U.S. tariff reduction commitment under Article 2 of GATT 1994 and also violates the most favored nation treatment obligation under Article 1. It is a blatant challenge to multilateral trading rules.
As for how to solve the trade dispute between China and the United States, I believe that the bell still needs to be tied to the bell. The US must stop its erroneous practices, retreat from its unilateralism, the 'big stick' of trade protectionism, and through equal and mutually beneficial consultations between the two sides. Find a solution for win-win cooperation.
Gao Feng Says U.S. Increased Tariff on China is a Blamant Challenge to the Multilateral Trade Rules
Reporter: After President Trump’s announcement that China will impose tariffs on China’s $60 billion in commodities and limit Chinese enterprises’ investment in the United States, how much will China's foreign trade affect the Sino-U.S. trade?
peak: I would like to start with a set of figures. In 2017, China’s total foreign trade goods trade exceeded US$4.1 trillion, of which imports and exports to the United States exceeded US$580 billion, accounting for 14.1% of China’s total foreign trade; China’s foreign non-financial The direct investment in this category was 120 billion U.S. dollars, of which 7.8 billion U.S. dollars were invested, which accounted for 6.5 percent of the total amount. I would like to stress that China is emboldened and confident of responding to any protectionist approach to trade investment.
The crux of the problem is that the U.S. side’s actions have opened a very bad precedent and imposed taxes on Chinese products. This is a flagrant violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization, putting the multilateral trading system completely behind the scenes, and defying and trampling on multilateral rules. Bad actions may also trigger a chain reaction of trade protectionism and cast a shadow over the already revived global economy. At the same time, the US’s taxation measures will also increase the prices of raw materials and consumer goods in the United States, affecting US manufacturing. What the industry and consumers ultimately harm is the well-being of the American people. We also noticed that some American industry and people also expressed their opposition to the US initiative.
I would like to stress again that China will take all appropriate measures to resolutely defend the interests of the country and its people. We hope that the United States will pull the cliff forward, otherwise we will follow it.
