The top US trade official has warned China that a proposed bilateral investment treaty and other global negotiations could be in jeopardy if the two sides fail to resolve a stand-off over liberalising the $2tn annual trade in high-tech products.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mike Froman, the US trade representative, said Washington was eager to use this week’s annual US-China “Strategic and Economic Dialogue” in Beijing to break the deadlock over updating the 1996 Information Technology Agreement (ITA).
A failure to get a deal on trade in IT would amplify opposition in the US Congress to other trade deals with China, according to US officials. It would also be “an important data point as to other negotiations that China may be interested in as well,” Mr Froman added.