China has inveighed against US trade policy, calling Washington “a destroyer” to the multilateral trading system,” including the World Trade Organization - in a report on US compliance with the WTO.
The 64-page report titled “2024 Report on WTO Compliance of the United States,” and issued by the Chinese commerce ministry yesterday, coincides with the ongoing WTO Public Forum that began early this week.
The report alleges the United States is “a practitioner of unilateralism and bullying behaviors”, and “a disruptor of global industrial and supply chains.”
China says the US “has refused to implement the rulings of the panels (of the WTO) and persistently blocked the appointment of the Appellate Body members.” Under the pretext of “fair trade,” China argues that the US has continued to help its own industries gain competitive advantage through large-scale discriminatory subsidies.
It “excluded foreign products and suppliers from government procurement through “Buy American” laws,” while erecting “obstacles to normal commercial investment through unsubstantiated security reviews on foreign investment, and leveraged its dominant position in economic and trade fields to coerce other WTO members to obey its domestic laws and unreasonable demands.”
The report catalogues all the trade and investment-related measures implemented by the United States during the past 365 days, maintaining that under the rubric of the “stability of global industrial and supply chains” Washington has “continuously instigated decoupling and disrupting global industrial and supply chains.”
According to China, the United States has “abused its long-arm jurisdiction to force other members to relocate their key industries to the US.” Since August 2023, according to China, Washington “has continued to pay lip service to its obligations under WTO rules and kept inconsistency between its words and deeds.”
In its litany of complaints against the United States, China alleged that the “US policy for escalating unilateral sanctions has continued to create new obstacles around the world.” While the United States has for a long-time implemented measures under national security, Washington “abused export control measures to curb enterprises of other countries, undermined the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
China says “the US till now is now the country that has introduced the largest number of unilateral sanctions in the World, targeting a large number of WTO members.”
Further, “the increasing unilateral sanctions imposed by the US have not only directly disrupted the foreign economic and trade activities of the entities and their countries but also exacerbated the contest between sanctions and countersanctions, thereby worsening the global economic and trade environment,” China alleged.
At the WTO Public Forum, China showcased how its rapid green transition could help address climate mitigation.
The discussion also addressed worsening US-China trade tensions, particularly on green technology and electric vehicles, and why Europe should partner with China to face a possible assault on free trade if former President Trump wins the US presidential election.
At a time when some former US senior economic officials are toying with plans to create a “green Marshall” fund to ensure that the United States becomes a major supplier of green goods to its allies in Europe and elsewhere, China also is racing to get ahead on emissions and green energy, according to several experts.
At a WTO public form event, former WTO deputy-director general, Yi Xiaozhun, who worked with former DG Pascal Lamy, stated that China’s renewable energy industry has made a significant contribution to global emissions reduction.
In 2022, he said, Chinese wind and photovoltaic products helped other countries reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 573 million tons, providing consumers in various countries with more affordable renewable energy products, which also helped alleviate inflationary pressures, according to a Chinese press statement.
“Contrary to what some in the US and Europe might claim, the development of China's new energy industry is not by virtue of government subsidies,” the former DDG emphasized.
He dismissed reports that China is dependent on subsidies for rapidly developing its green and renewable energy side, insisting that “relying on subsidies could never create a healthy industry.”
The growth of China’s renewable energy sector, he claimed, has been driven more by intense market competition, rapid technological iteration, and an ever-expanding market scale.
He suggested that government policies have played a signaling role by encouraging research and development, building infrastructure and nurturing consumer markets.
The former WTO official cautioned against using climate action as a pretext for protectionism. “Tackling climate change and promoting green economic transitions should not come at the expense of violating WTO rules. Nor should it weaken the multilateral trading system.”
In her intervention, former WTO general council chairperson and Kenyan minister, Amina Mohamed stressed that the green transition in African countries would bring enormous opportunities in renewable energy, infrastructure, agriculture and critical mineral processing. She said attracting foreign investment and technology, as well as building local production capacity, is essential.
The Kenyan trade official cautioned that subsidy wars and protectionism will pose challenges for Africa, while underscoring the need for international cooperation.
Another participant in the discussion, Elvire Fabry from the Jacques Delors Institute, pointed out that although there are frictions between China and Europe over electric vehicles, given China’s dominant position in the new energy industry chain and US policy uncertainties, the EU needs to stay engaged with China and attract Chinese companies to invest in Europe for its green transition.
In a similar vein, the President of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics Adam Posen urged China and Europe to strengthen cooperation and strategy to deal with US policy uncertainty, arguing that the United States should return to multilateralism.
The panelists agreed on ensuring that national policies for addressing climate change and promoting green transitions should not violate multilateral trade rules.
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