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News > World

While US Initiates Probe Into China Trade, China Won't 'Sit By'

  • China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying (above) has denounced the U.S.'s probe as a violation of multilateralism.

    China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying (above) has denounced the U.S.'s probe as a violation of multilateralism. | Photo: REUTERS

Published 19 August 2017
Opinion

China has criticized the Section 301 provision for being a violation of the principles of multilateralism, in favor of a unilateral, aggressive approach.

The United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, initiated an “investigation” of China's trade practices, having alleged that China is engaging in intellectual property violation. The move is expected to do significant harm to already strained U.S.-China relations and elicit a strong response from Chinese leadership.

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“On Monday, President Trump instructed me to look into Chinese laws, policies, and practices which may be harming American intellectual property rights, innovation, or technology development,” Lighthizer said in a statement on Friday.

He is filing an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a measure rarely used since the establishment of the World Trade Organization. The move allows the U.S. to initiate such an action, which could be used to pursue sanctions or other forms of trade restrictions, without approval of the WTO.

Anticipating the beginning of the investigation, China's Ministry of Commerce released a statement on Tuesday saying that “China will definitely not sit by, but take all appropriate measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

“The United States should treasure the current sound Sino-U.S. economic and trade ties and cooperation momentum. Any U.S. trade protectionism move will surely damage bilateral ties and the interests of companies from both countries,” the Ministry said.

China has criticized the Section 301 provision for being a violation of the principles of multilateralism, bipassing existing international institutions in favor of a unilateral, aggressive approach.

“Section 301 has been denounced by other nations for its unilateralism since it came out,” China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Thursday. “The U.S. should keep its promises and not become a destructive force that undermines multilateral rules.”

“There's no winner in a trade war,” she said.

Hua Chunying's remarks come on the tail of now-former White House Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, saying in an interview that the U.S. was engaged in a “trade war” with China, and that “winning” the trade war should be the U.S.'s principal interest. He said he had been actively pressuring within the Trump administration for the imposition of tough restrictions against China's trade.

Bannon, however, left his position as Chief Strategist on Friday, after him and the Chief of Staff “mutually agreed” that he should leave.

Trump appears to largely be in agreement with Bannon's stance. When he signed the order for the “investigation,” he said that “Washington will turn a blind eye no longer” to what he called Beijing's “theft” of U.S. intellectual property.

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