U.S. Trade Update: China Has Failed to Modify ‘Unfair’ Trade Practices

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

A report from the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office released this week found that China has failed to fundamentally alter its market-distorting trade practices.

The USTR Office released the most recent update on the results of a 301 investigation into China’s trade practices this week. The report covered China’s “acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.”

“We completed this update as part of this Administration’s strengthened monitoring and enforcement effort,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said. “This update shows that China has not fundamentally altered its unfair, unreasonable, and market-distorting practices that were the subject of the March 2018 report on our Section 301 investigation.”

The report details China’s use of various tools “to regulate or intervene in U.S. companies’ operations in China in order to require or pressure the transfer of technologies and intellectual property to Chinese companies.” Chinese officials employ methods that restrict transparency and pressure firms on technology transfer.

“Despite the relaxation of some foreign ownership restrictions and certain other incremental changes in 2018, China’s acts, policies, and practices related to forced technology transfer in China persist,” the report states. One section is dedicated to the volume of concerns levied from U.S. and foreign companies and U.S. trading partners.

The USTR report can be viewed in full on a USTR webpage.

Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook.

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