Source: Ministry of Commerce website
According to the Ministry of Commerce website, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce made a statement on the US launch of 301 investigation against China.
On April 17, U.S. time, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced the launch of a Section 301 investigation into China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries. China is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it.
The U.S. application is full of false accusations, misinterpreting normal trade and investment activities as harming U.S. national security and corporate interests, and blaming China for its own industrial problems. This lacks factual basis and goes against economic common sense. Multiple US research reports show that the US shipbuilding industry has lost its competitive advantage many years ago due to over-protection. The United States provides hundreds of billions of dollars in discriminatory subsidies to its own industries, but accuses China of adopting so-called "non-market practices." In fact, the development of China's industries is the result of enterprises' technological innovation and active participation in market competition. The US accusation is simply untenable.
The previous U.S. government launched a Section 301 investigation into China and imposed additional tariffs on China. This has been ruled by the WTO as a violation of WTO rules and has been opposed by many WTO members. The United States has made repeated mistakes by launching a new Section 301 investigation out of domestic political needs.
We urge the United States to respect facts and multilateral rules, immediately stop its wrong practices, and return to the rules-based multilateral trading system. China will pay close attention to the progress of the investigation and will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its rights and interests.
