Washington a threat to multilateral trading system

Editor's Note: The Office of the United States Trade Representative released a 70-page 2022 Report to Congress on China's WTO Compliance, which details the Joe Biden administration's assessment of China's membership in the World Trade Organization. The administration said "China still embraces a state-led economic and trade approach that runs counter to the open, market-oriented principles endorsed by all members of the organization". In response, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued its 69-page 2023 Report on WTO Compliance of the United States on Friday last week. The following are excerpts of the report:

As the largest economy in the world, the US is a major global trader, and an important founder and principal beneficiary of the multilateral trading system. However, since 2017, pursuing the policy of "America First", the US has persistently been blocking the appointments of members to the WTO Appellate Body, which has led to the paralysis of the Appellate Body. The US has also arbitrarily raised tariffs on imports, abused trade remedy and export control measures, granted discriminatory subsidies, instigated decoupling and the fragmenting of industry and supply chains, and imposed economic coercion and sanctions of all kinds. These actions have seriously undermined the core values and basic principles of the WTO, violated the US' international obligation to comply with WTO rules, and severely challenged the multilateral trading system and harmed shared interests of the WTO members.

The US should have set a good example by abiding by the rules, honoring its commitments, and upholding the authority and efficacy of the multilateral trading system. Based on WTO rules and the US' commitments under the WTO agreements, the report expresses concerns about the US trade and economic policies and measures in eleven key areas, including tariff and nontariff barriers, industrial subsidies, agricultural subsidies, trade remedies, standards and technical regulations, trade in services, intellectual property rights, export controls and economic sanctions, investment review mechanism, "Buy America" policy, and discriminatory arrangements in international economic and trade cooperation.

The report also elaborates on the joint efforts of China and other members to address the US actions and propositions that have violated the WTO rules and undermined multilateralism, including upholding true multilateralism, promoting restoration of the Appellate Body, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of developing members, making good use of policy review and monitoring functions of the WTO, and upholding the authority of the dispute settlement mechanism.

It is hoped that this report will help urge the US to fulfill its commitments, abide by the rules, and truly return to the community of rules-based, open, transparent, inclusive and nondiscriminatory multilateralism as soon as possible, playing its due role in safeguarding the authority, integrity and efficacy of the multilateral trading system. China will continue to closely monitor the US' fulfillment of its obligations under the WTO. Meanwhile, China will, as always, work closely with all WTO members, firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, fully and deeply participate in WTO reform, and collectively advance the multilateral trading system to play a greater role in global economic governance.