US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering using rarely invoked US trade laws to fend off China’s demands that foreign companies share their technology in return for access to the country’s vast market, a person familiar with US discussions said yesterday.
The administration is discussing the use of Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, which empowers Washington to launch an investigation into China’s trade practices and, within months, raise tariffs on imports from China, or impose other sanctions, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been made public.
The investigation would be focused on China’s alleged “forced technology transfer policies and practices,” the person said, adding that the Trump administration could move to launch such an investigation this week.
Photo: AFP
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deliberations come as the administration signals a harsher stance on trade than it took in the first six months of Trump’s presidency.
US and other Western governments and business groups accuse Beijing of blocking access to promising industries by requiring foreign companies to hand over proprietary technologies in exchange for being allowed to operate in the nation.
Such requirements are seen as an attempt by Beijing to nurture its own competitors.
Trump set aside complaints about market access and currency when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in April in hopes Beijing would help pressure North Korea to end its nuclear weapons development.
However, tensions bubbled up last month at a US-Chinese dialogue where US Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin blamed China’s US$347 billion trade surplus with the US last year on Chinese “government intervention in its economy.”
US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, in a commentary in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, outlined a slew of grievances against China and the EU that he said contributed to the global US trade deficit in goods last year of US$725.5 billion.
“Both China and Europe also bankroll their exports through grants, low-cost loans, energy subsidies, special value-added tax refunds and below-market real-estate sales, among other means,” Ross wrote.
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