A lecture on the hot issues in Sino-American trade in 2018
At a lecture on the trade tensions of 2018, officials of the Pudong New Area Commission of Commerce in Shanghai reported on the measures the United States has taken against China and on the course of trade between the two countries in recent years. Yu Shengxing of Haihua Yongtai then explained the run of American investigations into Chinese products, numbered 731, 701, 337, 232, 201 and 301, together with export controls and reviews of foreign investment, and China's responses. Discussion turned on the trade deficit, the tariffs imposed unilaterally, and the damage they do to both sides.
The lecture opened with Mr Lu Qixing, Mr Ding Xiufeng and other leading officials of the Shanghai Pudong New Area Commission of Commerce, who in turn explained and reported on the trade measures the United States is at present taking against China and on the state of imports and exports between the two countries in recent years. Yu Shengxing of Haihua Yongtai then explained the series of investigations the United States has opened into Chinese products: one after another the United States has brought forward investigations numbered 731, 701, 337, 232, 201 and 301, while also controlling exports and conducting a series of reviews directed at the countries in which foreign investment originates. China has responded correspondingly to these American actions.
It was predicted long ago that this trade war between China and the United States would be launched sooner or later, and the most direct cause of America's starting it is the Sino-American trade deficit. To that end the United States has begun to bring unilateral pressure to bear by raising tariffs on Chinese imports, which also presses on the cost of living of the American public; and as to exports, more than 60 per cent of American soybeans, for instance, go to the Chinese market, so restricting exports will harm American producers while China can find substitute agricultural products. The tariffs the United States has imposed of its own motion also breach the relevant agreements and the treaties it has signed. In international disputes the preferred route to settlement is at present negotiation, and should negotiation fail, recourse to the dispute settlement machinery of international organisations for a final ruling is not excluded.
Minton's lawyers will continue to follow the current hot topic of the "Sino-American trade war" and to analyse the legal questions it raises one by one.