US vows 'aggressive' stance on trade with China

The United States has said it wanted to move more aggressively to resolve trade frictions with China, warning that it would not hesitate to drag the Asian giant to the World Trade Organization.

Washington would pursue dialogue with Beijing only if it was the "fastest, best, and surest way" to resolve trade disputes, US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk said on Tuesday.

"But when our preferred course doesn't work, we will not hesitate to use other tools, such as dispute settlement, to enforce the rules as written," he said at a forum of the US-China Business Council, a group of about 250 American companies doing business with China.

"If we have to file at the WTO, we'll file," he said, citing seven key bilateral disputes that Washington had raised so far with the global trade watchdog.

"We will not yield on enforcing the right of American businesses and exporters to compete on a level playing field with China," Kirk said.

In some cases, he pointed out, China's industrial and procurement policies, as well as standards and licensing procedures, favored domestic and state-owned enterprises and discriminated against foreign firms.

He said China should also "do a better job of enforcing intellectual property rights...and standards on the environment, labor, and product safety."

The United States has often expressed concern about access to the world's biggest market in a bid to ease the burgeoning trade deficit with China, a topic often raised by American lawmakers from farm producing constituencies.

US lawmakers have also long accused Beijing of keeping its yuan currency artificially low -- a step they said would boost Chinese exports by making them less expensive relative to US goods on global markets.

Kirk on Tuesday prodded China, now the third-largest buyer of US exports, to act swiftly on market reforms, saying American producers needed enhanced market access now to save jobs and create new, better-paying jobs at home.

"So we need results sooner rather than later," he said. "Dialogue and negotiation normally resolve trade frictions far more quickly than litigation. And in a tough economy, time is not on our side."

Kirk also said that a US-China government forum presently dealing with bilateral trade issues -- the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) -- should be more action oriented in grappling with trade disputes.

"We can address immediate trade frictions, such as regulatory and market access issues that impede US businesses in China. But the JCCT must go further," he said.

"We must make meaningful progress on bedrock trade concerns that spring from the US and China's differing economic approaches."

President Barack Obama's administration will hold its first JCCT meeting with China this fall.

Kirk's deputy, Demetrios Marantis, is to make his first trip to Beijing soon to begin preparations for the talks.

American business leaders welcomed Kirk's remarks.

"China has been the fastest growing market for US exports this decade -- by far," said US-China Business Council President John Frisbie.

"Ambassador Kirk rightly wants to continue this record of growth by ensuring American companies have access to China's rapidly developing market for goods and services."