E.U. Issues Report on Trade with China
Oct 25, 2006
The New York Times (free sub required) ran a story yesterday about a new European Union policy report on the E.U.'s trade relationship with China.
Like their U.S. counterparts, E.U. officials have expressed concerns that China, while a valuable trade partner, is failing to meet all of its obligations. In particular, the E.U. report points to a growing trade deficit. In this press release issued yesterday, the E.U. outlines its China trade policy priorities and makes it clear that, if dialogue with China fails to achieve its goals, it will consider litigation with the World Trade Organization.
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Whereas the E.U. traded very little with China only two decades ago, China is now Europe's largest source of imports and Europe is China's largest export market. According to the Times article, "Chinese exports to Europe during 2005 were worth 158 billion euros ($198 billion) [and] European exports to China were worth only 52 billion euros ($64 billion).
Earlier this year, the U.S. also raised some of the same concerns as those identified in the E.U. report in its assessment of U.S.-China trade relations (see the USTR's February 2006 review). More recently, in April, USTR reported signs of progress following the U.S.- China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade with regards to areas like intellectual property. Specifically, in regards to the tech community, the Chinese government agreed to measures that would increase the use of licensed software on government computers.
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