MARKET ECONOMY STATUS
Trade partners foil China’s upgrade to fend off dumping
Beijing — China’s battle for recognition as a market economy, which would help it avoid penalties from key trade partners, has been thwarted because a key clause in Beijing’s deal to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) expired on Sunday. As China marks the 15th anniversary of its accession to the body, the US, EU and Japan are maintaining tough rules that protect them from cheap Chinese products flooding their markets. An outraged Beijing said the failure of its major trade partners to grant China market economy status on December 11 as promised was an example of "covert protectionism". Beijing highly covets market economy status, which would make it more difficult for other countries to launch antidumping cases against it. When China joined the WTO on December 11 2001, it was written into the terms of the deal that member states could treat it as a nonmarket economy, allowing them to impose heavy antidumping duties on the basis that its low prices did not reflect market reality...
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