Trump presses WTO to drop China’s ‘developing nation’ tag

Bloomberg

US President Donald Trump opened another chapter in the trade war with China, ordering his top trade negotiator to pressure the World Trade Organization (WTO) to crack down on countries the US doesn’t think should be allowed to declare themselves developing nations.
Trump singled out China in a memo to US Trade Representative Robert Ligh- thizer, saying that “the United States has never accepted China’s claim to developing-country status, and virtually every current economic indicator belies China’s claim.” In response, China said that it’s still a developing nation and needs flexibility and policy room, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The president, who has long been a vocal critic of the institution, called the WTO “broken” in a tweet that followed release of the memo. But analysts said it was unclear what power the US had to effect any change or to use it as justification for tariffs or other potential remedies, given that decisions at the WTO are made by consensus and the issue has long been a point of contention.
The move came ahead of a trip by Lighthizer and other officials to China, to try and restart trade negotiations that stalled in May.
The US has insisted as part of those negotiations that China should give up its developing country status, something China has said it will not do.
“The US is playing the old trick of threatening and pressurising just before the two nations are set to have high-level trade negotiations,” CCTV said in its broadcast in Mandarin.

China may delay deal until after ’20 polls: Trump
Bloomberg

US President Donald Trump said China may wait until after the 2020 US presidential election to sign a trade agreement because Beijing would prefer to reach a deal with a Democrat.
“I think that China will probably say, ‘let’s wait,’” Donald Trump told the reporters. “When I win, like almost immediat-
ely, they’re all going to sign deals.”
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the Group of 20 summit in Japan last month and declared a tentative truce in their year-long trade war. The leaders directed their negotiators to resume trade talks.