Beijing voices dissatisfaction with WTO frustrations

BEIJING - China has vowed to take countermeasures if WTO members continue to classify Chinese imports through a protocol that it says gives trading partners an edge in dumping disputes - and can result in high tariffs imposed on Chinese goods.

Caixin reports that the Chinese Government had expected its status as a WTO "surrogate member" — technically barring it from the "market economy" status enjoyed by many trading partners — to end on December 11 on the 15th anniversary of China's accession to the global trade group.
But major WTO players, including the U.S., Japan and some EU countries — have frustrated these expectations, prompting the latest warning from Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman, Shen Danyang. Beijing "is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes any intentions" by other WTO members to continue supporting China's surrogate status after the 15th anniversary, Shen said.
Japanese media has reported that Japan will not recognise China as a market economy, a few weeks after US Secretary of Commerce Penny Prtizker said the time was “not ripe” for the US Government to change the way it calculates duties imposed in trade disputes.
Australia and New Zealand have sided with China, Caixin reports, but Europeans appear divided. Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland and Germany reportedly support market-economy status for China. But Italy, Spain and France have signalled opposition.  www.webershandwick.cn  (ATI).