China may be hauled to WTO

MARYLAND – The United States may haul China to the WTO this year over counterfeiting of American goods as trade friction intensifies between the two powers, a senior US official said Wednesday.

“I would not be surprised if there is a WTO case this year on some IPR (intellectual property rights) issues but I don’t want to get into details on that,” undersecretary of commerce for international trade Franklin Lavin told reporters. Lavin, who spoke after making opening remarks at a US-China business venture forum in Bethesda, Maryland near Washington, said the United States would like to “see further improvement” from China in the protection of intellectual property rights, which “might be the single greatest set of issues” involving bilateral relations.An annual report by the US Trade Representative’s office in December highlighted numerous complaints against China, including “rampant” piracy of US goods and warned that Washington stood ready to sue China at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to protect its interests if bilateral consultations fail to make headway.The appraisal was made five years since China’s WTO accession.To demonstrate it was fighting copyright piracy, Beijing issued a notice last year requiring the pre-loading of legal operating-system software on all computers produced or imported into China.Nampa-AFPLavin, who spoke after making opening remarks at a US-China business venture forum in Bethesda, Maryland near Washington, said the United States would like to “see further improvement” from China in the protection of intellectual property rights, which “might be the single greatest set of issues” involving bilateral relations.An annual report by the US Trade Representative’s office in December highlighted numerous complaints against China, including “rampant” piracy of US goods and warned that Washington stood ready to sue China at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to protect its interests if bilateral consultations fail to make headway.The appraisal was made five years since China’s WTO accession.To demonstrate it was fighting copyright piracy, Beijing issued a notice last year requiring the pre-loading of legal operating-system software on all computers produced or imported into China.Nampa-AFP