Japan, the EU and China came in for the most criticism by the George W. Bush administration on Tuesday in a report spotlighting trade barriers against US exporters.
In all, the administration cited 52 individual countries and three trading blocs for criticism in this year's National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers.
From the broad list, the administration will choose a much smaller number of priority negotiating areas.
If consultations do not remove barriers the administration finds objectionable, the US could bring trade cases before the WTO.
Those cases could ultimately lead to economic sanctions if the US wins its claims and the targeted country fails to correct problems.
"By identifying barriers to trade, we can work with our trading partners, globally, regionally and bilaterally, to eliminate these barriers while further liberalizing our market at home," US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said in a statement.
The report devoted 45 pages to Japan, followed by 35 pages for the 15-nation EU and 29 pages on China, the country which for the past two years has had the largest trade surplus with the US.
On Japan, the report said, "Structural rigidity, excessive regulation and market access barriers continue to limit opportunities for US companies trading with and operating in Japan."
The report also cited China forerecting obstacles to imports by imposing lengthy and costly inspections and dubious sanitary standards.
"While China has a more open and competitive economy than 20 years ago, substantial barriers have yet to be dismantled," said the 2002 National Trade Estimate on Foreign Trade Barriers.
"Import barriers, opaque and inconsistently applied legal provisions, and limitations on market access combined to make it difficult for foreign firms to operate in China in 2001," it said.
The annual review detailed US concerns over the hurdles its exporters face in 55 countries.
The US trade deficit with China was US$83 billion dollars last year, a drop of US$787 million from the previous year.
"Import standards and phytosanitary requirements are being used to create import barriers and imports of many products are required to undergo duplicative and expensive quality and safety inspection procedures," the US Trade Representative (USTR) office said in an accompanying statement.
"Imports of agricultural products such as grain, poultry and citrus are at times arbitrarily blocked," it added.
The report cited the misuse of health standards.
"China's phytosanitary and veterinary import standards are sometimes based on dubious scientific principles and are not always consistently applied," it said.
Many US exporters also found the Chinese rules opaque, it said.
China joined the WTO on Dec. 11 but it was still working to comply with its obligations, the report said. "WTO accession will have a dramatic effect on tariffs for many products of interest to the United States," it said.
Tariffs for some passenger cars, for example, were to be cut from more than 100 percent to 25 percent by 2005.
"The central government continues to protect noncompetitive or emerging sectors of the economy," the report said.
"Provincial and local governments have strongly resisted reforms that would eliminate protection of local enterprises or reduce government receipts."
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