Global Trade Conflict Looms Over China’s Market Status

Trade tensions rise as China, the United States and the European Union quarrel how far each can go with anti-dumping measures to prevent exports at low prices to control markets, reports Guy de Jonquieres for Nikkei Asian Review. “Anti-dumping laws, which are employed by many countries, including China, are a glaring exception from world trade rules that prohibit governments from unilaterally raising import tariffs,” he writes. He describes the process of bringing anti-dumping cases before the World Trade Organization as “highly technical” and a “dark art,” often relied upon by the weakest industries. China expects Market Economy Status from the WTO by the end of this year, but the EU and especially the US with the presidential campaign may balk. “For the U.S. and EU to shelter behind legal ambiguities in order to perpetuate a particularly opaque form of trade protection sits decidedly oddly with their constant insistence that China should open its market further, adopt more transparent policies and adhere more strictly to global rules,” Jonquieres notes. Battles over WTO rules and back-and-forth retaliation will raise doubts about the benefits of global trade. – YaleGlobal