WASHINGTON, July 9, 2013- Congress members said this week’s meetings of the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue (S&ED) present a chance to address China’s barriers to U.S. trade.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sandy Levin (D-MI), and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sent a letter to the Administration regarding the meetings.
“We will be paying close attention to the outcomes of this year’s S&ED– and implementation of past outcomes – to determine the strength and seriousness of China’s commitment to reform and the resolution of U.S. trade concerns,” they said.
The letter to Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, and US Trade Ambassador Mike Froman said, “We remain very concerned that China has halted – and in many cases reversed – its market reforms.”
Regarding agricultural concerns, the Congressmen said China continues to maintain regulatory barriers to U.S. agriculture exports “that are not supported by science, raising serious questions about whether China is complying with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments.”
“For example, China’s regulations continue to prohibit the importation of U.S. beef even though the World Organization for Animal Health has recognized that all cuts of U.S. beef derived from cattle of all ages are safe,” the letter states. “In fact, U.S. beef is classified with the same rating as beef from Australia, New Zealand, and other countries that are permitted to export their beef to China.”
Find the full letter here.
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