US erring in trying to circumvent trade norms

It will have come as no surprise to those keeping a watchful eye on the dynamics in the relations between the world's two largest economies that the current administration is claiming the United States made a mistake when it backed China's membership of the World Trade Organization.

In the latest sign of the Trump administration's unwillingness to embrace an open, market-orientated trade regime and instead promote its own frontier justice to protect its competitive advantage, it said in the annual report to Congress on China's compliance with WTO commitments that "it seems clear that the United States erred in supporting China's entry into the WTO".

By making such a claim, the US is willfully ignoring the fact that in the 16 years since it was admitted as a member, China has revised hundreds of domestic laws and regulations to bring them in line with WTO rules, reduced its tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers, and adjusted its trade-related regulatory policies. The substantial moves it promised and has taken to open up its market have greatly benefited the US - from its leading companies to individual farmers and consumers.