WTO source of tension on eve of US-China trade talks

By Vakkas Dogantekin and Riyaz Ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - China on Monday said any reform in the world trade body should be “negotiated by all members rather than one country,” rebuffing a Friday memo by the U.S. that asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reconsider the "developing country" status of several countries, including China.

The White House memo came at a time when officials from the two giant competitors are set to meet Tuesday and Wednesday in Shanghai for trade and tariff negotiations, the first face-to-face meeting for the two delegations since May.

Only days before the much-awaited talks, U.S. President Donald Trump attacked the WTO for not changing China's status as a developing country, which qualifies those countries with certain benefits such as export subsidies and advantages in WTO dispute settlements.

"The WTO is BROKEN when the world’s RICHEST countries claim to be developing countries to avoid WTO rules and get special treatment. NO more!!!” he tweeted on Friday.

“Today I directed the U.S. Trade Representative to take action so that countries stop CHEATING the system at the expense of the USA!"

The memo, which showcased the Trump administration's discontent with most international organizations, recommended China and other leading developing countries -- including Turkey, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar -- for reconsideration.

The 164-member WTO, which has historically moved very slowly and rarely takes radical decisions, leaves it to member countries to decide on their developing or developed status.

In a not atypical about-face, Trump's incendiary rhetoric on China suddenly replaced the positive atmosphere lingering from last month’s G20 meetings in Japan with a hostile outlook on the eve of a new round of talks.

China, which joined the WTO in 2001 after lengthy discussions, was quick to hit back at the U.S. on Monday.

"The basic principle of special and differential treatment for developing members of the WTO must be safeguarded," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

She added that WTO standards and procedures should be negotiated by all members rather than just one.

"As the largest of the developing countries, China will shoulder obligations compatible with its own level of development and capability," Hua said.

- Not all bad news

Yet, acceding to a U.S. demand to buy American agricultural products in return for easing sanctions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei last month, millions of tons of U.S. soybeans have been shipped out to China since the G20 meetings, Beijing-based ECNS news reported.

The move is set to boost trade negotiations between the two countries, which have raised tariffs on their goods.

More Chinese companies are expected to import soybeans, cotton, pork, sorghum, wheat, corn, dairy products and other commodities from the U.S. as part of an agreement reached last month on the sidelines of the summit.

“Chinese authorities indicated that the U.S. should take concrete measures to implement its commitments and create favorable conditions for economic and trade cooperation,” ECNS reported, referring to the meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan in June.

A report in the South China Morning Post Monday claimed that Chinese negotiators “did not have full political backing for the concessions they proposed to reach a deal to end the trade war” early in May.

Beijing has reportedly made “last minute, large-scale edits to a near-150-page trade agreement draft.”

“The changes suggested that Chinese negotiators never really connected with all the people who needed to be connected to in order to make the deal,” Claire Reade, who spent eight years negotiating with China as a senior figure in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), told the Hong Kong-based newspaper.

Reade said that she expects China to be “very careful and conservative” in future talks.