China uses a large array of dubious measures to prevent foreign companies competing fairly in its market, a US government report said on Wednesday.
The annual report on trade barriers to American exports, produced by the US trade representative’s office, acknowledged that Beijing had reduced official trade tariffs and quotas. But the Chinese authorities still used domestic tools such as restricting trading rights, skewing government procurement towards Chinese companies and hoarding raw materials for internal use.
“Eight years after China’s WTO accession, many US industries complain that they face significant non-tariff barriers to trade”, the report said. “These barriers include, for example, regulations that set high thresholds for entry into service sectors such as banking, insurance and telecommunications . . . and the use of questionable sanitary and phytosanitary measures to control import volumes.”