Gala 2024
USCBC Discourages A Premature Withdrawal From Trade Agreement With China
The US-China Business Council commends the Trump administration for the implementation of the US-China Phase One trade agreement, which has already led to improvements—particularly in agriculture, intellectual property protection and financial services—for our member companies. Continuing to ensure full implementation of the Phase One trade agreement is necessary to regain momentum in the bilateral commercial relationship in the wake of a pandemic.
We will be releasing the findings of our second survey on USCBC members’ sentiment toward Phase One later this month.
President Trump’s recent remarks imply the United States may withdraw from the Phase One agreement if China fails to purchase $200 billion over the next two years. With only two full months of implementation to date, in the midst of an unprecedented global health crisis, there has not been sufficient time to assess China’s delivery of several commitments, annual purchase targets included.
“It would be extremely destabilizing if the president pulled out of the agreement without giving the Chinese a chance to meet their commitments,” said Craig Allen, president of USCBC. “So far, China seems to be operating in good faith and has sought no modifications to its purchase commitments despite its ability to request them.”
“Significant care was put into negotiating the agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism—it was intended to secure a durable agreement able to withstand temporary discord in the US-China relationship” said Allen. “USCBC encourages USTR to leverage the dispute resolution mechanism if it finds China is not faithfully implementing its commitments.”
USCBC and the business community look forward to supporting “phase two” negotiations to address issues like market-distorting subsidies for state-owned enterprises, the regulation of data, and equal treatment for US and other foreign companies. We are deeply concerned that withdrawing from Phase One will delay progress on these important structural issues.
美中贸易全国委员会不支持过早退出中美经贸协议
华盛顿特区办公室联系人：
Doug Barry ([email protected]; 202-429-0340)
北京代表处联系人：
张莉沛 ([email protected]; 86-10-6512-5854)
华盛顿特区—2020年5月8日—美中贸易全国委员会对特朗普政府对第一阶段经贸协议的履行表示赞赏，其成果已在诸多领域取得进展，尤其是在农业、知识产权保护与金融服务领域。在疫情的环境下，进一步确保第一阶段经贸协议的全面落实对重整中美双边贸易关系至关重要。
我委员会将于本月末发布关于第一阶段经贸协议的第二次会员调查结果。
特朗普总统近期表态，中方若无法在未来两年内增购价值2000亿美元的美国商品及服务，美国或许会退出第一阶段协议。考虑到协议两个月前才开始执行，以及当下前所未有的全球疫情危机，现在评估中国对其各个承诺的履行成效，包括年度采购目标，仍为时过早。
我委员会会长克雷格·艾伦表示， “假若总统不给中方足够的时间履行协议承诺而直接撤出协议，这将大幅增加不稳定因素。迄今为止，中国政府对履行协议表现出诚意，虽然中方可以提出修改采购目标的要求，但却并未如此。”
此外，艾伦会长表示，“经贸协议中的争端解决机制是中美双方投入大量精力、仔细斟酌达成的机制，这正是为了保障协议的持久性，确保其不受中美关系一时摩擦的影响。”假若美国贸易代表办公室认为中方未诚心诚意地履行承诺，美中贸易全国委员会鼓励贸易代表办公室利用争端解决机制化解纠纷。
美中贸易全国委员会与商界支持且期待 “第二阶段” 协议的谈判，尤其解决扰乱市场秩序的国有企业补贴问题、数据监管、以及平等对待外商投资企业等议题。我委员会深切担忧退出第一阶段协议将延误解决上述重要结构性问题的进展。
