Chinese Critical of U.S. Trade Review : Copyright: Officials say steps have been taken to protect computer software and intellectual property.
China criticized the Bush Administration on Saturday for including Beijing’s trade practices in a special review that could lead to punitive tariffs on exports to American markets.
The decision Friday by U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills began a six-month legal process that could result in trade sanctions against China, India and Thailand for inadequately protecting intellectual property rights, such as copyrights and trade secrets.
In a statement carried on the nationally televised evening news, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade said China had taken steps to protect such rights and should not have been targeted for the special investigation.
“This will produce extremely negative effects on economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States,” the statement said.
The statement noted that China’s new copyright law will take effect June 1. It said China is devising regulations to protect computer software and plans to revise its patent law to better protect intellectual property.
In announcing the review, Hills said the U.S. goal “is to improve the level of intellectual property protection worldwide.”
A report by Hills’ office said China is the only major U.S. trading partner that fails to offer product protection for pharmaceuticals and other chemicals. It said China does not provide adequate copyright protection for U.S. works or for business trade secrets.
The report also criticized the granting of trademarks in China, saying they go to the first registrant without regard to who was the original owner.
U.S. industries estimate that American companies lose more sales because of copyright violations in China than in any other country.
The U.S. report marked China, India and Thailand as countries whose practices are “the most onerous and egregious and who are not negotiating in good faith or making progress in negotiations.”
Joseph Massey, assistant U.S. trade representative for Japan and China, had said during a visit to Beijing last month that the piracy of copyright products in China added another problem to worsening trade relations between the two countries.
U.S. officials say the U.S. trade deficit with China was $10.4 billion in 1990, an increase of $4.2 billion over 1989. The trade deficit with China is America’s third-largest, behind Japan and Taiwan.
The trade disputes are expected to be major considerations when China’s most-favored-nation trade status comes up for review in June. The trade status allows China the lowest possible tariffs on its exports to the United States.
After China’s bloody crackdown on the democracy movement in 1989, American critics pushed for the trade designation to be revoked. Now, there is increasing pressure to rescind it because of the trade disputes.
The House of Representatives voted by a large margin last year to halt U.S. trade preferences for China, but the measure died when Congress adjourned without action by the Senate.
President Bush is expected to extend the trade preferences because he says congressional retaliation against China could be counterproductive. However, Congress could overturn the decision if both chambers acted within 30 days.
