China Slams US Trade Probe as Unilateralist Act

Beijing, Mar 13 (PTI) China on Friday slammed the US trade investigation aimed at 16 economies, describing it as a typical unilateralist act that severely disrupts the international economic and trade order.

In a statement, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said that a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel has long ruled that tariffs imposed based on Section 301 investigations violate WTO rules.

China has made its position clear on multiple occasions regarding the so-called "overcapacity" claim by the United States, the spokesperson said, noting that the world economy has long been an inseparable whole, with production and consumption being global in nature.

"There would be no cross-border trade if production in each country only meets domestic market demand," it said and urged the US not to narrowly define production capacity that exceeds domestic demand as "overcapacity" and label it as such.

The US also has no right to unilaterally determine whether its trading partners have "overcapacity" through Section 301 investigations and impose unilateral restrictive measures, it said.

China also noted the US initiation of Section 301 investigations into 60 economies, including China, in relation to what it claimed to be failures to prohibit the importation of goods produced via "forced labour," saying that China is currently analysing and assessing this development.


"China urges the US to correct its erroneous practices and return to the right track of resolving issues through dialogue and consultation," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that China will closely monitor the progress of the situation and reserves the right to take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

The US has initiated investigations against its trading partners, including India, China, Japan and the EU, to address what it called unfair foreign practices that adversely impact American manufacturing.

US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer announced the initiation of a probe regarding the "acts, policies, and practices" of various economies under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.

Other economies subject to these investigations are Bangladesh, Cambodia, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The investigations will determine whether those acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce, the USTR said in a statement on Wednesday.