US moves closer to trade sanctions against China

24 February 2006 18:10  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--Top trade officials said on Friday that the US is coming close to filing a formal complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over China’s failure to demonstrate a commitment to intellectual property rights (IPR).

 

“We are running out of options short of a more formal WTO process to move China forward on these IPR issues,” said Jim Mendenhall, general counsel at the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR).

 

Mendenhall said he will lead a three-member official delegation from the USTR to Beijing next week where he will be joined by US embassy IPR specialists for several meetings with Chinese government officials.

 

“We have pressed the Chinese hard on IPR in a number of areas and with a number of diplomatic tools,” Mendenhall said, “but we have not seen the progress we would like to see from China on piracy and counterfeiting.”

 

Mendenhall said he will press Chinese officials to provide detailed information on what efforts Beijing has made to enforce those IPR laws that China has on its books, including information on the number and types of prosecutions made against Chinese nationals for IPR violations and the results of those cases. The US has requested this information at least twice before, he noted, but without a satisfactory response from Beijing.

 

“We want to impress upon the Chinese the urgency and seriousness with which we regard this issue,” Mendenhall said.  He said the US expects detailed results from the Chinese by the second quarter this year. Failing that, he said, the US will consider other options, chiefly a formal complaint under the WTO dispute resolution process.

 

“If we do bring a case before the WTO and we prevail there, and the Chinese were to not comply with that WTO ruling,” Mendenhall said, “then we would be looking at US trade sanctions against China.”

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly