China Continued to Unfairly Block U.S. Agricultural Exports in 2013, Says USTR in Annual Review
Chinese regulatory authorities continued to target beef, poultry, pork products and other agricultural commodities in 2013, preventing anticipated U.S. export growth for such products, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in an annual report on Chinese World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance presented to Congress. USTR released the report on Dec. 24. Chinese authorities continue to block imports of U.S. beef and beef products more than six years after these products were declared to be safe for trade under criteria established by the World Organization for Animal Health, said USTR.
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“China also continued to impose some unwarranted state-level Avian Influenza import bans on poultry. Additionally, China continued to maintain overly restrictive pathogen and residue standards for raw meat and poultry,” said USTR. “In 2014, the United States will continue its discussions with China on U.S. beef products, with the shared goal of achieving a resumption in market access by July 2014. In addition, the United States will continue to urge China to lift the restrictions on imports of U.S. poultry products and to improve its regulatory process for biotechnology products.”
China continued to pursue other policies that seek to limit market access for imported goods in order to provide better conditions for state-owned enterprises and other domestic companies, said USTR. Through the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, however, China committed to not finalize measures that would have prohibited Chinese government procurement of foreign manufactured vehicles, said USTR. China also reversed a measure that, among other things, sought to limit eligibility for priority treatment to medical device manufacturers with Chinese intellectual property. Moreover, China in 2013 continued to push export limits, including export quotas, export license restrictions, minimum export prices and export duties.
“Through these export restraints, it appears that China is able to provide substantial economic advantages to a wide range of downstream producers in China at the expense of foreign downstream producers, while creating incentives for foreign downstream producers to move their operations, technologies and jobs to China,” said USTR. “In early 2014, the United States expects a decision in a second WTO case, where the claims focus on China’s export restraints on rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum, which are key inputs for a multitude of U.S.-made products, including hybrid car batteries, wind turbines, energy-efficient lighting, steel, advanced electronics, automobiles, petroleum and chemicals.”
China also must alter its legal framework to implement Internet-based copyright protection and push changes to increase the effectiveness of enforcement. “Despite repeated anti-piracy campaigns in China and an increasing number of civil IPR cases in Chinese courts, counterfeiting and piracy remain at unacceptably high levels and continue to cause serious harm to U.S. businesses across many sectors of the economy,” said USTR. “Indeed, in a study released in 2011, the U.S. International Trade Commission estimated that U.S. businesses suffered a total of $48 billion in lost sales, royalties and license fees due to IPR infringement in China in 2009 -- a figure that is more than two-thirds the value of the $69 billion in U.S. goods exported to China in the same year. The reported experiences of U.S. businesses on many fronts suggest that losses continue on a grand scale.”