U.S. trade official lauds results of talks with China

Jul 11, 2005, 17:53 GMT

Washington - U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said Monday that "measured progress" had been made in trade meetings with China, delivering upbeat news after weeks of tensions over the possible Chinese acquisition of a U.S. oil company.

Portman and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez led a U.S. delegation that headed to Beijing to address "systemic trade concerns". He said the meetings led to commitments that China would more strictly enforce intellectual property rights (IPR) and improve market access, but Portman added that more needs to be done.

"Today we have made some progress in areas of key concern to U.S. businesses, particularly with regard to IPR enforcement, including cracking down on fake goods in China; preventing restrictions on what the Chinese government buys from American companies; and, ensuring U.S. products can be freely distributed in China," Portman said.

New tensions arose over trade issues between the two countries after China's government-controlled oil company CNOOC Ltd. launched a bidding war against Chevron for America's eighth-largest company, California-based Unocal, which has valuable oil and gas reserves in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to hold back funds the Bush administration would need to approve the merger, and expressed concern about possible threats to economic and national security if China acquires the company, but U.S. President George W. Bush signalled his intent last week to allow a normal review process to proceed.

In the weekend's trade meetings with China, Beijing committed to increase the number of criminal prosecutions for IPR violations, according to a fact sheet on the trade mission, U.S. officials said.

In addition, China's government has established a task force to coordinate criminal enforcement of IPR violations, and the two countries will also put together an IPR law enforcement working group.

To help U.S. businesses with IPR problems, China will establish an ombudsman at its U.S. embassy to serve as a point of contact on the issue.

China has also agreed to improve market access for U.S. agricultural goods and to discuss liberalizing the insurance and telecommunications sectors.

In addition, China said it would provide "a detailed accounting of its subsidies" to the World Trade Organization by the end of this year.

Despite the concessions secured, Portman said much more needs to be done.

"There remain very serious concerns regarding American access to the Chinese market," Portman said. "China is a major beneficiary of the global trading system. Along with that comes responsibilities, including opening their market to our products and services just as we have opened ours."