China Objects to US Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

China’s Ministry of Commerce criticized the Biden administration’s annual report released this week on foreign trade barriers, saying it “arbitrarily accused China of so-called ‘non-market’ policies and practices and barriers in agricultural products, data policies and other aspects.” A ministry spokesperson told reporters. in response to a question about the report, that “whether a country's trade policy constitutes a barrier should be judged based on whether it violates” World Trade Organization rules, according to an unofficial translation. “The United States should stop making false accusations against other countries, earnestly abide by WTO rules, and jointly safeguard a fair and just international trade order.”

The U.S. report (see 2404020044) continued to say that China has failed to meet commitments agreed to under the phase one trade deal negotiated under the Trump administration (see 2202080068), and it highlighted issues surrounding Chinese forced technology transfers, tariffs on U.S. products, technical barriers to agricultural trade and more.