USTR Evaluates China's Compliance with WTO obligations

USTR Susan Schwab, summarizing the larger USTR report due on Monday in today's Financial Times, asserts that the record of China's compliance with its WTO obligations is "profoundly mixed."

While acknowledging that China has met many of its obligations, Schwab points to "regulatory obstacles," industrial policies that subsidize exports, and inconsistent enforcement of intellectual property rights as problem areas.

Scwhab concludes, the U.S. wants "a strong trade relationship with this vast and fast-growing economy. The potential benefits for Americans – in exports, jobs and greater economic competitiveness – are enormous. But that depends on China’s continued reform, and on a commitment to expand free and fair trade based on decisions by the actors in the market – not by bureaucrats."

The Full Report is now available at the USTR.