China's World Trade Organization Ambassador (WTO) Li Chenggang said at a closure meeting held in Geneva on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's “tariff shock” could lead to a global recession.
“These 'tax shocks' increase economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, risk domestic inflation, market distortions, and even global recessions. What's worse, U.S. unilateralism threatens to overturn a system of rules-based multilateral trading,” Li said.
That's what WTO, headquartered in Geneva Regulation By the “General Council” where we meet regularly with trade ambassadors of all 166 countries. Tuesday's meeting was the first time since the 2024 US election that widespread global trade frictions have been formally addressed by the General Council.
Several representatives I said Reuters said on Tuesday that the current WTO meeting was not expected to resolve major global trade issues, but China clearly used it as an opportunity to gather support for President Donald Trump's tariff threat. It's.
Less than the Washington swipe, some representatives said they believe China is an effort to demonstrate itself as complying with WTO rules.
“They want to be reasonable, responsible and look like the best students in their class,” said one representative who is not allowed to speak publicly.
A conflict between the two top economies of the WTO for longer than Trump's arrival. Beijing accused Washington of breaking the rules, but Washington said Beijing does not deserve to be a “developing country” positioned to be treated specially under WTO rules.
This was an indication to China. Classification itself Despite being one of the world's largest economies, it is still a “developing country” to enjoy priority treatment at the WTO.
US envoy David Bisbee I responded Beijing criticised in Geneva by denounced China as a “predatory non-market economy system.”
“It's been more than 20 years since China joined the WTO. It's clear that it was digging up when China dug out. During this period, China has long violated, ignored and avoided WTO rules. We've been creating records,” Bisbee said.
China's tendency to play with rules that differ from what they demand from other countries is one reason why President Trump is I was imposed 10% tariffs and many important trade restrictions on China's imports in early February.
The WTO criticism of the Second Trump administration has been the case for a long time, as Trump has been skeptical of the WTO and he has not hesitated to withdraw from international organizations he believes the US is being treated unfairly. I was held back to avoid leaving.
Jamie Songria was nominated for USTR (USTR) Approved Last week, by the Senate Finance Committee I was urged Other countries that avoid tariffs and lower import barriers if they “enjoy continuing market access to the US.”
During a Senate confirmation hearing, Greer described the American trade deficit as a “growth issue.” He particularly criticized China for rejecting key terms of its trade agreement with the first Trump administration. Greer was the chief of staff for Trump's first USTR, Robert Lighthizer.
in Written testimony To the House Road and Means Committee last April, Greer described the WTO as a poor mechanism for dealing with China's “merchandising”. This states that even the clearest victory in the WTO conflict resolution process, America's outcome is insufficient.
“The Chinese are not so grossly worried about complying with WTO requirements,” he observed. “On the issue of even more fundamental concern, it is unrealistic to think that the Chinese will decide this is time to completely change the fundamental structure of the economy.”
