US president vows to ‘stand up to any country that unlawfully forces American companies to transfer valuable technology as a condition of market access’
US President Donald Trump called China’s policies toward US companies operating in the country “unlawful”, as he kicked off an investigation that threatens to spark a trade war between the two largest economies.
“We will stand up to any country that unlawfully forces American companies to transfer their valuable technology as a condition of market access, ” Trump told reporters in Washington after signing a “Memorandum Addressing China’s Laws, Policies, Practices, and Actions Related to Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Technology”.
“We will combat the counterfeiting and piracy that destroys American jobs, we will enforce the rules of fair and reciprocal trade that form the foundation of responsible commerce, and we will protect forgotten Americans who have been left behind by a global trade system that has failed to look – and I mean look – out for their interests. “
Trump ‘plans to trigger China trade probe’
The investigation could take as much as a year, and either lead to negotiating an agreement with China, US unilateral trade remedy actions or entering into a dispute settlement process in the World Trade Organisation, senior White House officials said over the weekend, when announcing Trump’s intentions.
Did Trump back-pedal on plan to hit China with trade sanctions?
The investigation under section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 will be Trump’s first major trade action against China.
