China-U.S. Trade Issues
Abstract
U.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. Total U.S.-China trade, which totaled only $5 billion in 1980, rose to $343 billion in 2006. China is now the 2nd largest U.S. trading partner, its 2nd largest source of U.S. imports, and its 4th largest export market. With a huge population and a rapidly expanding economy, China is a potentially huge market for U.S. exporters. However, economic relations have become strained over a number of issues, including China's large and growing trade surpluses with the United States; its failure to fully implement its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, especially with regard to intellectual property rights (IPR); its refusal to adopt a floating currency system; and its maintenance of industrial policies and other practices deemed unfair and/or harmful to various U.S. economic sectors. The Bush Administration has come under increasing pressure from Congress to take a more aggressive stance against various Chinese economic and trade practices. It has recently filed a number of trade dispute resolution cases against China in the WTO, including over China's failure to protect IPR and afford market access for IPR-related products, discriminatory regulations on imported auto parts, and import and export subsidies to various industries in China. In addition, the Administration recently reversed a long-standing policy that countervailing cases (dealing with government subsidies) could not be brought against non-market economies (such as China) when it brought against certain imported Chinese glossy paper products. Finally, in December 2006, the Administration began a "Strategic Economic Dialogue" (SED) with China to discuss major long-term economic issues between the two countries. This report provides an overview of U.S.-China economic relations, surveys major trade disputes, and lists major legislation in the 110th that seeks to address these issues.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 11, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA471205
Entities
People
- Wayne M. Morrison
Organizations
- Library of Congress