[CTC] U.S., EU and Japan to take joint action against Chinese trade practices

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Politico Pro
U.S., EU and Japan to take joint action against Chinese trade practices

By Hans von der Burchard and Megan Cassella <https://www.politicopro.com/staff/megan-cassella>
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The U.S., EU and Japan plan to release a joint statement today that ramps up pressure on China to tackle “serious concerns for the proper functioning of international trade,” such as severe excess capacity and unfair competition caused by market-distorting subsidies and state-owned enterprises.

The trilateral declaration, which is expected to be published this afternoon following a meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and Japanese Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko here in the Argentinian capital, does not mention China directly but clearly addresses key problems caused by Beijing’s state-led economy.

Forced technology transfer as well as local content requirements and preferences are also mentioned in the statement, of which POLITICO has seen a draft version dated this morning.

In a win for the EU and Japan, the statement commits the U.S. to work toward resolving these problems in multilateral fora like the World Trade Organization, which Washington has recently attacked with actions such as blocking judge nominations.

“To address this critical concern,” the three parties “agreed to enhance trilateral cooperation in the WTO and in other forums,” the draft statement says.

“We share concerns about the situation related to overcapacity and not really playing by the rules,” Malmström told reporters this morning. “We had a successful steel global forum in Berlin two weeks ago, and we want to build on that momentum with our American and Japanese partners to see how we can work within the WTO.”
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