China denounces US opposition to market economy status

BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Saturday expressed strong dissatisfaction with the US opposition to granting it market economy status in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Office of the US Trade Representative told Xinhua Friday that the United States had submitted a statement of opposition to the WTO as a third-party brief in support of the European Union (EU) in a case brought by China arguing the "surrogate country approach" should be dropped after the expiration date.

"China is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposes the rejection, as the US government tried to mix the concepts of the surrogate country approach and market economy status to mislead the public," the MOC said in a statement.

When China joined the WTO, members use costs of production in a third country to calculate the value of products from countries on their "non-market economy" list, which includes China.

In accordance with Article 15 of the accession protocol, the surrogate country approach expires on Dec. 11, 2016.

The case has nothing to do with whether China has been granted market economy status or not as there are no standards in WTO rules for the status, the MOC said, urging all members to drop the practice.

When the approach expired last year, some member nations, including Japan and the United States, indicated they would not honor their commitments with no plans to change their trade policies. The MOC has warned that their refusal would put trade ties with China at risk.