Seven questions to Katherine Tai about China: State economy

China has recently redoubled its state-centered economic system, said Katherine Tai, the US trade representative.

First of all, Tai stressed that for too long, China‘s failure to adhere to global trade rules has undermined the prosperity of Americans and others around the world.

“In recent years, Beijing has doubled down on its state-centered economic system. It is increasingly clear that China’s plans do not include meaningful reforms to address the concerns that have been shared by the United States and many other countries,” she said Monday in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

In 2018, the Trump Administration, acting under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, concluded that China engages in forced technology transfer and cyber theft of US intellectual property and trade secrets, among other allegations.

In response, the United States increased tariffs on $ 250 billion of imports from China and then authorized other tariff hikes in that same direction.

«We continue to have serious concerns with China’s state-focused and nonmarket business practices that were not addressed in the Phase One agreement,» Tai added.

In 2016, the year prior to the start of the Trump Administration, China’s share in the trade of total United States products was 15.9% (it fell to 14.9% in 2020), while its share in US exports was increased from 8 to 8.7% and its share in US purchases fell from 21.1 to 18.6% in the same comparison.

Katherine Tai

“As we work to enforce the terms of Phase One, we will raise these broader political concerns with Beijing. And we will use the full range of tools that we have and develop new tools as needed to defend American economic interests from harmful policies and practices,” Tai said.

In this regard, the USTR official also said these words: “We have a lot of work to do. To be successful, we must be forthright and honest about the challenges we face and the serious risk of leaving them unaddressed. We must explore all options to chart the most effective way forward.»