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AP
Donald Evans

U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans this week criticized China for what he said is its failure to make good on promises to remove trade barriers, ease restrictions on foreign companies and crack down on piracy.

 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan on Thursday rejected the U.S. allegations. 

Mr. Kong says China has reduced overall tariffs and stepped up piracy controls. He says new legislation is in place that is in line with China's commitments. He also says new steps have been taken to improve transparency. 

U.S. officials, however, have charged that, while laws have been put on the books, China is not doing enough to convict those who pirate items - everything from compact discs to airplane parts and pharmaceuticals. 

Taking steps to protect intellectual property rights and dismantle trade barriers were among the things China promised to do when it joined the World Trade Organization two years ago. 

The U.S. Commerce Department this week announced it plans to form a task force to investigate what U.S. officials say are unfair Chinese trade practices. And next week, it will issue a report in which it is expected to accuse China of failing to ease trade restrictions. 

A rising U.S.-China trade deficit is providing fuel for political jousting in the United States ahead of next year's presidential elections. 

The Bush administration is vowing - among other measures - to push China on relaxing its controls on its currency, the yuan. American trade unions, manufacturers, and others say an undervalued Chinese currency is cheating Americans out of jobs by making Chinese products artificially cheap. 

China says it has no immediate plans to remove the currency peg, saying a stable monetary unit is essential to its growth. The communist nation's economic output has at least quadrupled over the past two decades. The Chinese government estimates this year's growth will exceed seven percent. Many economists believe this number is exaggerated, but concede that China's economy is one of the fastest growing in the world.
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US Criticizes China on Copyright Violations Bush Administration Briefs Congress on US-China Relations US Lawmakers Accuse China of Unfair Trade Practices APEC Refuses to Back US Proposal to Loosen Currency Controls China Faces International Pressure to Free Exchange Rate

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. G7 Ministers Discuss Exchange Rates VOA News 20 Sep 2003, 16:35 UTC . . Finance ministers from the world's leading industrial democracies are discussing steps to boost world trade by implementing flexible, market-based exchange rates.  The ministers are meeting Saturday, in Dubai ahead of a World Bank - International Monetary Fund conference due to start Tuesday in the emirate. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow says he favors expressing support for flexible exchange rates in the Group of Seven's final communiqué.  While no one at the G7 meeting has directly referred to one country, analysts say what's at issue is loosening China's iron grip on its currency to promote more favorable conditions for foreign exporters. Meanwhile, the U.S. treasury secretary said Washington will continue to provide financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.  Representatives from the World Bank and IMF for the West Bank and Gaza Strip say that about $1 billion is necessary to keep the troubled Palestinian economy afloat through next year.  Mr. Snow is also at the meetings to urge other nations to contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States has estimated that Iraq's reconstruction will cost between $50 and $75 billion.  Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. Email this article to a friend.  Printer Friendly Version .

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