US Officials Tout Progress With China Trade, Highlight Areas for More Work
Discussions between the U.S. and China have progressed on areas including intellectual property rights and U.S. beef, but China still needs to address other issues related to IPR and excess capacity, top U.S. business officials told Chinese counterparts Nov. 23 during the final day of the 2016 meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT). “Policy challenges remain in our relationship,” Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said during the plenary session. “The U.S. private sector has seen strong results for their businesses in China," she said. "Our companies and your companies need to see China further reform, rebalance, and further open your economy.”
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U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman during the plenary said the nations “have much work to do,” and that the U.S. would address sensitive issues including agricultural biotechnology and excess capacity during the remainder of the JCCT. Froman also urged Chinese officials to focus on bringing negotiations on the Environmental Goods Agreement to a close, and said the two nations have advanced discussions on a Bilateral Investment Treaty. “I want to emphasize the need to keep the U.S.-China relationship on an even keel, even as we sail into the strong headwinds of populism and protectionism that are blowing all around the world,” Froman said (here).
If the U.S. and China don’t conclude agreements on biotechnology, poultry and beef, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack would deem that as not living up to U.S. expectations, he said. While Chinese demand for protein, better nutrition and safe food is increasing, non-tariff barriers and production-distorting agricultural policies in China are inhibiting the potential for U.S. agricultural exports to China, Froman said Nov. 22 during a food safety event (here). While the countries have held discussions on these topics and agricultural biotech approvals, China maintains an “asynchronous” approval process, Froman said.
China's Vice Premier Wang Yang touted U.S. and Chinese cooperation on e-commerce, increasing Chinese investments in the U.S. and vice-versa, and the growth of the bilateral trade relationship since 2012 by 4 percent. But he also called upon the U.S. to fulfill what he called its obligation per China's World Trade Organization accession protocol to remove the "non-market economy" designation of China for antidumping purposes. Chinese officials have argued that the Dec. 11 expiration of a provision in that accession protocol will obligate the U.S. and other nations to treat it as a market economy.