Washington, Oct 7 (IANS): The United States is keeping in place two sets of trade actions against China over technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation after American manufacturers and industry groups asked the government to continue the measures, the US Trade Representative said Wednesday.
The actions, imposed in July and August 2018 under Section 301 of the Trade Act, had been subject to possible termination this year as part of a statutory four-year review.
USTR said both will remain in effect, although they could be modified as the review continues.
The decision extends measures stemming from a long-running US dispute with Beijing over Chinese practices involving technology transfers, intellectual property and innovation.
For the first action, USTR received 68 requests for continuation from US producers and 18 from trade associations. For the second, 57 domestic producers and 19 trade associations sought continuation.
The requests were submitted by industries that said they benefited from the trade measures.
Those groups told USTR that China’s policies and practices at the centre of the original investigation had persisted and that maintaining the US actions continued to benefit American industries.
They said the measures gave Beijing an incentive to end what they described as unreasonable and discriminatory practices underlying the trade actions.
The industry representatives also said the measures helped address unfair competition stemming from China’s technology-transfer practices and allowed American businesses to compete against Chinese imports.
They credited the actions with encouraging investment in new technologies, expanding US production and helping reshore industries.
The agency began the latest review process in May, notifying industries that benefited from the measures that the actions could expire unless qualifying requests for their continuation were submitted.
Under the statutory process, industries benefiting from the July action had from May 7 through July 5 to request its continuation. The corresponding period for the August action ran from June 24 through August 22.
Because USTR received requests from industries benefiting from each action, both remained in force beyond their respective anniversary dates.
The decision does not end the review.
USTR said it will conduct a further examination of both actions and publish separate notices detailing the next stage.
Section 301 of the Trade Act is a US trade enforcement mechanism used to address foreign practices Washington determines burden or restrict American commerce.
