Senate Call to Strip China's "Special" WTO Status

Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Angus King (I-Maine) are calling on the World Trade Organization so that China is no longer able to designate itself as a developing country, which allows it to receive the same benefits as much poorer nations.

The two senator reintroduced a resolution (SRes 202) asserting that the WTO should reform its special and differential treatment rules so globally competitive countries, such as China, are not able to self-designate as a developing country in order to gain unfair trade advantages.

The United States has repeatedly taken issue at the WTO with China’s continued insistence on designating itself as a developing country.

“China, which has the world’s second-largest economy after the United States, should not be able to self-designate as a developing country to gain unfair trade advantages, especially as the Chinese Communist Party takes advantage of actual developing countries through the predatory lending of the Belt and Road Initiative,” Sen. Thune said.

“This designation intentionally misidentifies China’s economic stature, undermines countries that are truly developing, and erodes trust in the rules-based trading system,” he continued. “Meaningful reforms at the WTO need to be made, and reserving special treatment for truly developing countries would be a good start.”

In addition to being the world’s second-largest economy, the World Bank categorizes China as an upper-middle-income country, the senators noted.

“China calling itself a ‘developing nation’ – while having the world’s second-largest economy – is a ridiculous economic fraud,” Sen. King argued. “This preposterous self-designation is yet another example of China abusing well-intended economic guidelines at the expense of American businesses and the rest of the world. The World Trade Organization must change their rules to stop China from receiving special treatment that it doesn’t deserve.”