CHINA'S WTO COMPLIANCE

Whom to Contact:

Neil Pratt
Senior Director, International Trade and Trade Counsel
(202) 974-5333
npratt@plasticsindustry.org

China's WTO Compliance

Market reforms adopted under the parameters of China's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) have helped stimulate increases in U.S. plastics exports to China. China has reduced tariffs, relaxed restrictions on trading rights, improved its legal framework to protect intellectual property rights, and generally supported a more transparent trading system – areas where SPI members have observed concrete progress in recent years.

Despite this progress, however, numerous areas exist where China must significantly improve its compliance record. SPI has identified several areas, where China has not fully complied with rules it agreed to when joining the WTO in 2001. These include:

• China's undervalued currency;
• Rampant intellectual property rights violations;
• Remaining high tariffs on plastics industry products;
• Lack of transparent customs procedures;
• De facto discriminatory enforcement of tax policies; and
• Implementation of standards, technical regulations, and phytosanitary and sanitary measures /li>

SPI relies on member input to identify areas where China has made progress or where work remains to be done for China to come into full compliance with its WTO obligations. Based on this input, SPI participates in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) annual review of China's WTO compliance record to ensure that plastics-specific concerns are included in USTR's analysis. View copies of SPI's China WTO compliance reports.

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