China’s Compliance with WTO Commitments

Since Chinas accession to the WTO in 2001, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (the U.S. Chamber) and the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) have been consistent in expressing concerns regarding Chinas intellectual property rights violations, policies and practices that force technology transfer, and excessive state intervention in the economy. Despite some progress on reducing overall tariff rates and enforcing select dispute settlement rulings--as well as a series of recent actions by the Chinese government to address some of the concerns of the foreign business community--these persistent violations have contravened numerous provisions under the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (TBT), General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), and Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs), as well as other promises made under Chinas accession agreement. In light of these issues, the U.S. Chamber and AmCham jointly submit this Comment seeking to highlight the following areas in which China has fallen short in honoring the spirit and letter of its WTO obligations: 1) Ensuring Fair and Open Markets; 2) Standardizing and Enforcing Robust IP Protection Rights; and 3) Eliminating Commercial Restrictions on Data and ICT Products and Services. Our organizations recognize that achieving concrete, far-reaching progress in these priority areas will not be easy. Indeed, securing explicit changes to the normative guidance, laws, and regulations that comprise the regulatory structure that China uses to force technology transfer will be a necessary first step in bringing China into closer alignment with its WTO obligations. Commitments by China to meaningful reform in these areas will require clear benchmarks, timelines, and intensive monitoring to ensure not only lasting changes to Chinas legal and regulatory architectures, but also impartial implementation of laws and regulations. To support the U.S. government in its efforts to identify needed changes to normative guidance (e.g. documents such as the 13th Five-Year Plan, Made in China (MiC) 2025 and other overarching industrial policy blueprints), laws, and regulations, we are pleased to provide the following two annexes to this submission: I) Priority Recommendations for Actions to Strengthen Chinas Compliance with its WTO Commitments; and II) Cross-Sectoral and Industry-Specific Member Company Issues We appreciate the U.S. governments attention to these fundamental issues. China constitutes a critical market for American products and services, and American business needs a level playing field both in the Chinese market and in order to compete with Chinese companies around the world. We are committed to working constructively with the U.S. government to ensure U.S.-China economic and commercial ties are mutually beneficial, that the bilateral economic relationship moves forward on a more equal and sustainable footing, and that China improves its compliance with its WTO commitments going forward.