U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Tuesday that China has not altered its predatory trade practices that coerce U.S. companies into handing over technology.
The administration has cited such practices to justify the tariffs it has placed on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods and the threat to place tariffs on an additional $257 billion worth of goods.
The claim that China hasn’t reformed comes just one week before President Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss trade policy.
“We completed this update as part of this Administration’s strengthened monitoring and enforcement effort,” Lighthizer said. “This update shows that China has not fundamentally altered its unfair, unreasonable, and market-distorting practices.”
The report alleges that China uses foreign ownership restrictions to pressure companies to transfer technology, systematically acquires U.S. companies and assets in order to obtain cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property, and hacks U.S. companies’ computer networks in order to obtain sensitive information.
Trump and Xi are set to talk on trade during the G-20 summit in Argentina next week. Administration sources have previously leaked to various media outlets that tariffs covering as much as $267 billion worth of Chinese goods could be announced if no progress is made at the meeting, though Trump last week downplayed the possibility.
