TRADE IS A TWO-WAY STREET
“PROTECTIONISM BECOMES DESTRUCTIONISM; IT COSTS JOBS”
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, JUNE 20, 1986
US CHINA TRADE WAR – NOVEMBER 19, 2018
Dear Friends,
This has been a difficult blog post to write because the US China Trade Relations are at a turning point. Also every day there has been more news, most of it bad.
Although my hope is for a quick settlement, in all probability the US China trade relations are entering a long cold winter. The core of the Section 301 case is the IP Theft and Forced Technology transfers of US/foreign companies by Chinese entities under the direction of the Chinese government. With no proposals/action plans from the US government and no real proposal from the China side until November 15th, which apparently was just a list of areas for possible negotiation, I do not see how this trade war ends soon.
Although there will be a Trump Xi meeting at the G-20 in Argentina on November 30 to December 1st, as of November 16th, there has been no real movement to a settlement. Maybe an agenda can be created before the meeting, but usually those agendas are set up at lower level meetings and the issues are preliminarily negotiated before the meeting of the principles. To date those real negotiations have not taken place.
Although there has been talks with the Treasury Secretary, Treasury will not make the decision in the Trade War embodied in the Section 301 case. That decision will be made by the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) Robert Lighthizer and Donald Trump. To date, there have been no negotiations on the 301 case between China and USTR.
On October 29th, Bloomberg reported that sources in the White House indicated that the if there is no breakthrough at the Trump Xi meeting, President Trump will impose tariffs on the remaining $275 billion in imports from China, in effect, covering all imports from China, which in 2017 were close to $505 billion.
The US China Business Council and the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing have both told the Chinese government to come up with an action plan to provide the US government to settle this dispute. This action plan would specifically spell out the steps that the Chinese government is prepared to deal with the core of the Section 301 case — intellectual property (“IP”) theft and forced technology transfer. Although I hope that an agreement between the US and China is possible, as indicated below, my partner, Steve Dickinson, who represents many US companies in China, believes that the situation is not likely to change in the near future.
Making it more difficult, on November 13th Vice President Pence told the Washington Post:
In addition to trade, Pence said China must offer concessions on several issues, including but not limited to its rampant intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, restricted access to Chinese markets, respect for international rules and norms, efforts to limit freedom of navigation in international waters and Chinese Communist Party interference in the politics of Western countries.
If Beijing doesn’t come up with significant and concrete concessions, the United States is prepared to escalate economic, diplomatic and political pressure on China, Pence said. He believes the U.S. economy is strong enough to weather such an escalation while the Chinese economy is less durable.
If the US demands that China, in effect, must concede on every issue and completely change its economy to settle the 301 case, which is not focused on the South China sea and other issues, China will stand up and refuse to back down.
On the other hand, if a proposal to settle IP Theft and Forced Technology Transfer, the core of the 301 case, can come from the Chinese side, there is a chance that the 301 case can be settled.
In addition, IP Theft has risen to another level with the Justice Department initiative below to criminalize the actions and threaten the Chinese companies and the individuals involved with criminal fines and prison time.
If there is no settlement of the IP issue, this trade war will go on and on. My hope is that the Chinese government makes a pragmatic/practical decision to deal with the IP Theft and forced technology transfer issues and settles this 301 case before the damage becomes too great.
On November 4th, former Treasury Henry Paulson, a true friend of China, at an economic conference in Singapore at which Wang Qishan attended made clear his fear that the US and China are entering into a cold war and “that is why I now see the prospect of an Economic Iron Curtain—one that throws up new walls on each side and unmakes the global economy, as we have known it.” That statement should make the Chinese government understand how serious this situation is.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government appears to be turning away from the private market and to more of a state-owned market causing many private Chinese companies to look at alternatives in third countries.
Because of this trade war, US importers, US and foreign companies with manufacturing operations in China and even Chinese private companies must make contingency plans to deal with this US China Trade War, which could block all Chinese exports from the US market. My law firm has set up a new group of consultants in Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines to look for third country sources of supply. Our lawyers have expertise in drafting contracts to help them import products from those countries and also to set up manufacturing operations in those countries. Products coming from countries, such as Thailand and Philippines, also get an advantage under the US General System of Preferences eliminating normal Customs duties on products, which can range from 4 to 6.5%. This gives those imported products from GSP countries a financial advantage over products from China and elsewhere.
This newsletter will describe the 301 and IP issues in detail. At the end of the newsletter, the technical details of the Section 301 case will be set up with the three lists and the possibility of filing for a product exclusion request.
Finally, will make some brief comments on the new US Mexico Canada Trade Agreement.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Best regards,
Bill Perry
THE US CHINA TRADE WAR IS NOT GOING AWAY SOON
To date the Chinese government appears to have dug in its heels, denied any IP theft or forced technology transfer and refused to provide any specific action plan to the US Government to deal with the IP issue. The November 15th Chinese proposal apparently was just areas for possible future negotiation.
The attached full Section 301 report, USTR FULL 301 REPORT CHINA TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, lists the IP Agreements between the US and China, which China has not followed through on. The 301 report is based on studies done by the US China Business Council and the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
I have personally talked to US companies, who have had intensive pressure from Chinese companies to turn over IP. That pressure from Chinese companies apparently is coming directly from the Chinese government.
Some of those US companies are leaving China. In fact, because of the Trump tariffs and the IP problems, there are reports that 60% of US companies are planning to move all or some of their production out of China. The Trump tariffs have been the spark, but the gunpowder is the Chinese government/companies’ aggressive attempts to take US companies’ intellectual property.
The Chinese government may believe that it can weather this trade storm and wait it out. But my discussions with Chinese companies indicate that it is becoming a long, hard winter. Despite the tariffs, the US stock market has hit record highs since the Trump election in 2016. Unemployment is at record low levels.
In contrast, China has seen an enormous drop in the Shanghai stock exchange of 25%. Although exports are up because the tariffs on the $200 billion are only 10%, many experts are expecting a sharp drop when the tariffs go up to 25% on January 1st.
The US may be hurt by a US China trade war, but all the economic indicators are that China will be devastated. See the November 1st article from the South China Morning Post about the dramatic slowing in the Chinese economy at https://www.scmp.com/news/article/2170966/chinese-manufacturing-activity-slows-more-expected-trade-war-intensifies.
The question for the Chinese government is does China want to be a friendly competitor or a strategic rival bent on becoming the hegemon, which will dominant all of Asia. My hope is that China wants to join the international community as a friendly competitor. If China wants to be a friendly competitor, it has to demonstrate a committed policy of rejecting IP theft and forced technology transfer. Otherwise it will be regarded as an international outlaw and strategic rival, and the US and many countries in the World will push back, devastating the Chinese economy and setting back the Chinese economy by decades.
The question for the Trump Administration is do you want to settle the 301 case and deal with the IP issues or simply use the 301 case as an excuse to shut down all trade with China.
Chinese officials argue that they do not know what US government officials to negotiate with and what the core issues are in the Section 301 case. The core issues are IP Theft and Forced Technology Transfer. The US government officials to negotiate with are: President Donald Trump, USTR Robert Lighthizer and possibly President Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner, who played a pivotal role in negotiating the US Mexico Canada Trade Agreement. But USTR is the agency in charge of the negotiations and the entity the Chinese government has to negotiate with. Negotiating with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is not going to settle the 301 case because that case comes out of USTR.
Moreover, it is not just the US that China has to worry about on intellectual property. Europe has already agreed to work with the US against China on IP theft and forced technology transfer. Mexico and Canada will join the Coalition. Japan will also join because it strongly believes that the Chinese government stole their intellectual property for the bullet train. This is not a pretty situation for China.
THE IP CORE OF THE 301 CASE AND SIGNED CHINESE IP AGREEMENTS VIOLATED
The core of the Section 301 case is intellectual property, rights which are Constitutionally protected rights. Stealing intellectual property (“IP”) is piracy, pure and simple.
As the United States Trade Representative states on page 4 of its attached full 301 report, USTR FULL 301 REPORT CHINA TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER:
The Federal Register Notice described the focus of the investigation as follows:
First, the Chinese government reportedly uses a variety of tools, including opaque and discretionary administrative approval processes, joint venture requirements, foreign equity limitations, procurements, and other mechanisms to regulate or intervene in U.S. companies operations in China in order to require or pressure the transfer of technologies and intellectual property to Chinese companies. Moreover, many U.S. companies report facing vague and unwritten rules, as well as local rules that diverge from national ones, which are applied in a selective and non-transparent manner by Chinese government officials to pressure technology transfer.
Second, the Chinese government’s acts, policies and practices reportedly deprive U.S. companies of the ability to set market-based terms in licensing and other technology- related negotiations with Chinese companies and undermine U.S. companies control over their technology in China. For example, the Regulations on Technology Import and Export Administration mandate particular terms for indemnities and ownership of technology improvements for imported technology, and other measures also impose non- market terms in licensing and technology contracts.
Third, the Chinese government reportedly directs and/or unfairly facilitates the systematic investment in, and/or acquisition of, U.S. companies and assets by Chinese companies to obtain cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property and generate large-scale technology transfer in industries deemed important by Chinese government industrial plans.
Fourth, the investigation will consider whether the Chinese government is conducting or supporting unauthorized intrusions into U.S. commercial computer networks or cyber- enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets, or confidential business information, and whether this conduct harms U.S. companies or provides competitive advantages to Chinese companies or commercial sectors.
The Section 301 Report then goes on to list ten IP Agreements the Chinese government signed with the United States from 2010 to 2016, including the recent 2016 agreement between President Xi and President Obama to not require the transfer of technology as a precondition of doing business in China. See page 8 of the USTR 301 report, which is attached above.
The international IP agreements China signed between 2010 to 2016 are NOT unequal treaties. These are agreements that the Chinese government negotiated with the US and other foreign countries and then simply refused to follow through on.
See the article from the South China Morning Post on how China’s rampant intellectual property theft overlooked by the US sparked the trade war https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2170132/how-chinas-rampant-intellectual-property-theft.
Moreover, the argument from some Chinese government officials and academics that China is a “developing” country and does not have to follow the international agreements that it signed is simply ridiculous. China is now the second strongest economy in the World.
WHY IP PROTECTION SO IMPORTANT FROM THE US POINT OF VIEW
Many do not realize that IP rights, specifically copyrights and patents, are Constitutionally protected rights in the United States. Article I Clause 8 of the US Constitution states:
“The Congress shall have power: “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”
When I was in the Commerce Department in the mid 1980s during the Reagan Administration, Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige believed that his job was to protect the crown jewels of American Manufacturing, the High-Tech industry.
In July 2018, USTR Lighthizer at the Senate Appropriations Committee responded to a question from Senator Schatz of Hawaii questioning the 301 case, by strongly stating the importance of protecting US intellectual property for future generations. See https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/review-of-the-funding-priorities-for-the-office-of-the-us-trade-representative.
The United States views its high technology as the crown jewels, and crown jewels have to be protected. On June 15th, in the Section 301 case against China’s misappropriation to US intellectual property rights, through the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”), President Trump announced tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports. The USTR announcement announcing the tariffs stated:
“We must take strong defensive actions to protect America’s leadership in technology and innovation against the unprecedented threat posed by China’s theft of our intellectual property, the forced transfer of American technology, and its cyber attacks on our computer networks,” said Ambassador Robert Lighthizer. “China’s government is aggressively working to undermine America’s high-tech industries and our economic leadership through unfair trade practices and industrial policies like ‘Made in China 2025.’ Technology and innovation are America’s greatest economic assets and President Trump rightfully recognizes that if we want our country to have a prosperous future, we must take a stand now to uphold fair trade and protect American competitiveness.”
DENY, DENY DENY—CHINESE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
Recently, here in Seattle, the head of the San Francisco Chinese Consulate responded to the Section 301 case by simply denying all the allegations. The Chinese government is not engaged in IP Theft and does not force companies to transfer their intellectual property when in China.
In an August 8, 2018 editorial, “China will not surrender to US threatening tactic”, the Chinese Daily, which is an arm of the Chinese government, stated:
But it created a new tactic of accelerating the trade war while advertising its willingness for talks. The mainstream opinion is that the US wants to use carrot-and- stick diplomacy to bully China into unilateral trade concessions, while some others hold that the hardliners in the White House overwhelm those calling for talks.
However, both groups share the same goal: to defeat China, no matter they prefer trade war or negotiation. But there is no way for them to be satisfied. . . .
But China will eventually defeat the trade blackmail of the US and it is impossible to force China into surrender to the US coercion. . . .
On October 16, 2018, in an editorial entitled “Commentary: Washington’s accusing China of “forced technology transfer” not grounded in facts” the China Daily stated:
BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — In its recent round of mud-slinging against China, the United States has once again resorted to such hackneyed charges as “forced technology transfer” and “intellectual property theft.”
Those allegations are detached from the facts, insulting to China’s technological achievements, and nothing but a pretext for the global hegemon to stymie the ascent of the world’s largest developing country.
China’s remarkable scientific and technological development allows no belittlement. It stems from the hard work of generation after generation of Chinese researchers, and benefits from international cooperation under the country’s long-standing opening-up policy. . . .
Meanwhile, as witnessed by the international community, China has made great strides in formulating and improving its laws and regulations on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in recent years.
World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry said just two months ago that in the past 40 years, China has established a high-level IPR protection system that regards intellectual property as the driving force for innovation and economic development and treats Chinese and foreign companies equally. Without any doubt, technology transfer abounds between Chinese and foreign entities, but that is rooted in the transferring parties’ pursuit of maximum profits.
As a matter of fact, U.S. companies have made huge gains in China over recent years from technology transfer and licensing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, China paid 7.95 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 and 8.76 billion dollars in 2017 to the United States for the use of intellectual property.
Thus, such condemnation of normal commercial practices is a mockery of the spirit of contract. More ironically, one of Washington’s frequently used weapons to curb other countries’ development is to impose high-tech export bans.
Authoritative research reports have repeatedly suggested that should the United States relax its strict restrictions on high-tech exports to China, its trade deficits would decrease significantly. But Washington has continued to be obstinate.
As many have pointed out, the ongoing trade frictions between China and the United States betray Washington’s anxiety over China’s increasing scientific and technological strength.
That angst is self-inflicted. Beijing is committed to peaceful development and win-win cooperation. What’s more, if China and the United States, the top two economies and investors in scientific and technological research on the planet, can join forces, the whole world will benefit, including both countries.
Given that, it is high time that Washington abandon its zero-sum mentality and embark upon the path of win-win cooperation instead.
CHINA’S REASONS FOR NOT GIVING IN ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
But we need to go deeper to understand China’s determination not to give in on the IP issues. In past newsletters and this newsletter, I have advocated strongly that China needs to negotiate and deal with IP Theft and Forced Technology Transfer Issues. I know for a fact that this happens in China.
Recently, I gave a speech in Houston, Texas about the Section 301 case. At the end of the speech, an engineer from an oil refining company talked to me about the IP issue. She has done projects all over the World. The engineer told me that she has told her bosses that she refuses to do any more projects in China because of the constant aggressive attempts of the Chinese partners to steal the company’s IP. Another senior manager at a major high tech company confirmed this point.
We know how the Chinese government helps Chinese companies get the IP. IP for high technology cannot be sold to China by a service. The policy of Chinese state-owned companies and Chinese banks, which are owned by the Government, is that the IP must be brought to China. Then the US company cannot set up a wholly owned subsidiary in China to hold the IP. No, the US company must have a joint venture, often with a direct Chinese competitor. Once the Joint Venture is established, the Chinese company simply breaches the IP licensing agreements and takes the IP for the high technology.
Simply denying the IP problems will not solve the Section 301 case and make the tariffs go away. But my partner, Steve Dickinson, who represents many US companies in China, has told me that the Chinese government cannot give in. Steve speaks and reads Chinese fluently and follows the Chinese press closely:
“The trade and investment relationship between the U.S. and China is going through permanent change. The current round of tariffs is just the start. As the tariffs fail to bring a resolution, other restrictive measures will be implemented: prohibition on a) sale or license of technology to China, b) on Chinese purchase of U.S. technology companies, c) on education of Chinese students in U.S. schools, d) of hiring of Chinese nationals in U.S. business, and e) on cooperative research programs with Chinese scholars and researchers.
This is the “new normal” in China/U.S. business relations. U.S. companies that do business must adjust to this new normal as quickly as possible. Many companies are waiting to react because they believe that this conflict is just a temporary political problem that will soon blow over. This view is a mistake.
The tariff measures are the first step in a much more general conflict over the entire Chinese system. The U.S. objects to virtually every aspect of the current Chinese economic/trade/investment system. Rather than take on the entire Chinese system as a first step, the current tariff dispute with China has been narrowly defined.
The USTR 301 Report bases the tariffs on two concrete issues: forced technology transfer and IP theft. Rather than respond constructively on how these issues can be resolved, the Chinese government response has been to simply deny every claim in the 301 Report. In its White Paper in response to the 301 Report, the Chinese government flatly denied every claim in the report. On forced technology transfer: it does not happen. Companies that transfer their technology to China do it voluntarily based on their own business calculation. On IP theft: it does not happen and all the accusations of trade secret theft and cyber-hacking are simply lies.
This complete denial of every statement in the 301 Report has been consistently maintained by every layer of the Chinese government. There has been no movement at all. For example, in the forced transfer area, the Chinese government has refused to even consider opening the network, e-commerce and cloud computing markets in China to foreign based businesses. In the IP theft area, the Chinese government has refused to cooperate in investigation and extradition on the recent U.S. indictments in several high profile cases.
In the face of these consistent denials, there is no room now for the Chinese government to back down. There is a reason for this position. The forced transfer and IP “assimilation” regimes are at the core of the Chinese economic system. Any government leader who proposed to change those regimes in a serious and effective way would simply be removed from power. The current leaders of China understand this and that is why they cannot even suggest a compromise on this critical issues that go to the heart of the current Chinese system.
So the only short term resolution of the trade war is for the U.S. trade team to capitulate. The U.S. has capitulated in the past. What reason is there to believe that the U.S. will not capitulate now? The reason the U.S. is not likely to capitulate is that U.S. businesses have waited now for 20 years to see real improvement in the Chinese system. The result has not been improvement. Over the past decade the situation has grown steadily worse. As a result, China has lost its former supporters in the U.S. business community. Since China has lost its main body of support in the U.S., there is no pressure on the U.S. trade team to back down. It is therefore unlikely that they will.
The situation is critical and U.S. businesses that operate in China must begin an analysis on how to deal with the trade situation and then make concrete plans to deal with the impact of the situation on their business operations. Many companies believe that they are faced with a black or white decision: either abandon China or pretend that nothing is happening. This approach is a mistake.
The response is far more complex. Some companies will continue to work with China based on the situation that has been in place for the past decade. For those companies, the major adjustment is that they can quit dreaming that anything will change. For other companies, developing supply relations outside of China will become critical. For other companies, China will no longer be attractive and a move will be required.
What is consistent is that every company that operates in China will be required to evaluate its operations in China under the new normal of current and increasing restrictive trade and investment measures. Some of the analysis that must be performed is:or companies that purchase products from China: how will current and future tariffs impact the business. For some of our clients, the tariffs are largely irrelevant. For others, the impact is severe.
When tariffs have an impact: what can be done? Is an exclusion from the tariffs possible? Will the Chinese factory agree to a price adjustment? Should sales be directed to countries outside the U.S. where tariffs are not imposed.
If the supply chain must be moved to another country, a careful analysis is required. Will you need to build a factory or can you purchase from an existing supplier or contract manufacturer? Is the infrastructure and legal system in the target country adequate for your needs? How long will it take to move and what will be the cost? In the end, after the analysis is complete, the result may be that a move from China is not cost effective.
China currently requires many technology companies to license their technology into China. For example, such licensing is required in the network, cloud, SaaS sector, e-commerce and fin-tech sectors. The Chinese government has made it clear that this policy will not change. Companies in this sector that have held off on China in the hopes of a change in policy must now make a decision: accept the licensing requirement or abandon China as a market.
Many U.S. companies engage in co-development of technology and products in China, working with many types of Chinese entities. Over the past 15 years, the Chinese court system has been receptive to protecting the contractual rights of foreign entities, provided that the contracts are properly drafted. Will this support continue? Or will U.S. companies need to look to different ways to protect their innovations that do not rely on the Chinese legal system?
For U.S. companies that want to sell or license technology to Chinese person, will new rules make that difficult or impossible? For U.S. companies that want to bring in Chinese investment, what will be the impact of restrictions that are currently being proposed. For U.S. companies that rely on hiring large numbers of Chinese professionals, what will be the restrictions. For U.S. education and research institutions that want to work with Chinese researchers, will that be possible? What about Chinese scholars who have become naturalized citizens of other countries: will they also be banned?
The questions above must be faced by every party from the U.S. that works with China in any way. The new normal with China is just that: China will not be permanently cut off from business relations with the U.S. But the nature of the relationship has changed. The situation is fluid and the final configuration of the U.S/China business relationship has not been settled. Businesses that wait until after a final resolution is reached will be left behind.
Now is the time to evaluate and take action.
As explained below, because of the great change in US China trade relations, we are working to help US companies, importers and even Chinese private companies set up operations in third countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines. We now have arrangements with consultants on the ground in these countries to help establish manufacturing operations or develop second sources of supply.On the legal side, we have substantial experience drafting foreign manufacturing agreements and supply agreements in these other countries to help companies wanting to move to a third country or source products from those countries.
See more information below.
To understand why we are so pessimistic of a short term settlement, on November 7th, the China Academy of Social Sciences, which is part of the Chinese government, posted an article on what they continue to pose as the ideal Chinese domestic innovation/assimilation of foreign IP project: the high speed rail/bullet train project: http://ex.cssn.cn/djch/djch_djchhg/zggdxlbdly_91788/The PRC high speed rail project was one of the most notorious examples of IP theft in the modern era. Chinese companies stole from 4 different companies breaching IP license agreements with the European and Japanese companies. Not only did the Chinese companies break their agreements to purchase foreign technology, they are now attempting to sell their illegal clones right back into foreign markets in competition with the companies from whom they stole the technology.
When challenged by Hitachi and others, the Chinese companies responded:
1). The licenses were unfair, so breach was justified.
2). Foreign patents, other IP and formal license agreements are all just unfair means foreigners use to keep China down.
3). The foreign companies should be happy that China is making cheap imitations, since that expands the market for the high speed rail products.
Books have been written about this project in China, where the perpetrators of the theft are lauded as national heroes. They describe in detail exactly how the foreign companies were tricked into giving away their technology. No one hides what was done. Instead, the Chinese government brags about how smart the Chinese companies were compared to the fool foreign companies who thought that formal licenses, IP registration and the rule of law would protect them. In effect, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says what fools the foreign companies are.
Although the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/the Chinese government may think that stealing foreign IP is the way to go, Japanese companies, such as Kawasaki Heavy, disagree. In the April article entitled Did China Steal Japan’s High Speed Train, http://fortune.com/2013/04/15/did-china-steal-japans-high-speed-train/, Fortune states:
One China defender recently claimed his countryman’s “bandit innovators” could be good for the world. That was small consolation for the Japanese, who say that China pirated their world-famous bullet train technology.
“Don’t worry too much about Chinese companies imitating you, they are creating value for you down the road,” said Li Daokui, a leading Chinese economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking’s conference. Such “bandit innovators,” he expanded, would eventually grow the market, leading to benefits for everybody.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI), maker of Japan’s legendary Shinkansen bullet trains, bitterly disagrees. After signing technology transfers with CSR Sifang, the builder of China’s impressive, new high-speed rail, KHI says it deeply regrets its now-dissolved partnership.
The key point is that the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/the Chinese government posted its high-speed rail article on November 7th, right in the middle of the trade war and just prior to the Trump/Xi G-20 meeting.
It should be noted that the Chinese approach to IP is directly contrary to the Japanese approach to IP. In the 1990s, Japanese companies were among the top 10 companies getting US patents with Hitachi getting more patents in some years than IBM. The Japanese know how to develop IP right—invent and patent.
THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DISAGREES—CRIMINAL ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE CASES AGAINST CHINESE COMPANIES AND CHINESE INDIVIDUALS
Although the Chinese government denies, denies and insists that Chinese companies do not steal US IP and then brags about stealing IP, the Justice Department disagrees and has taken these issues to another level—criminal investigations resulting in prison time. On November 1, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new case and a new initiative to combat Chinese economic espionage. In the attached statement, SESSIONS ANNOUNCEMENT NEW CHINA INITIATIVE IP THEFT, Attorney General Sessions stated:
But under President Donald Trump, the United States is standing up to the deliberate, systematic, and calculated threats posed, in particular, by the communist regime in China, which is notorious around the world for intellectual property theft.
Earlier this year, a report from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer found that Chinese sponsorship of hacking into American businesses and commercial networks has been taking place for more than a decade and is a serious problem that burdens American commerce.
The problem has been growing rapidly, and along with China’s other unfair trade practices, it poses a real and illegal threat to our nation’s economic prosperity and competitiveness. . . .
From 2013 to 2016, the Department of Justice did not charge anyone with spying for China.
But since the beginning of 2017, we have charged three people with spying for China or attempting or conspiring to do so. And when it comes to trade secret theft, we are currently prosecuting five other cases where the theft or attempted theft was for the benefit of the Chinese government.
In 2015, China committed publicly that it would not target American companies for economic gain. Obviously, that commitment has not been kept.
Just ask GE Aviation, or Trimble, of Sunnyvale, California.
Today I am announcing another economic espionage case against Chinese interests. . . .
I am announcing that a grand jury in San Francisco has returned an indictment alleging economic espionage on the part of a Chinese state-owned, government owned, company, a Taiwan company, and three Taiwan individuals for an alleged scheme to steal trade secrets from Micron, an Idaho-based semi- conductor company.
Micron is worth an estimated $100 billion and controls about 20 to 25 percent of the dynamic random access memory industry—a technology not possessed by the Chinese until very recently.
One of the defendants served as president of a company acquired by Micron in 2013. He left the company in 2015 and went to work for the Taiwan defendant company—from where he is alleged to have orchestrated the theft of trade secrets from Micron worth up to $8.75 billion.
The Taiwan defendant company then partnered with a Chinese state-owned company—so that ultimately China could steal this technology from the United States and then use it to compete against us in the market. This is a brazen scheme.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 15 years in prison and $5 million in fines. The companies could face forfeiture and fines worth more than $20 billion.
This week the Commerce Department added the Chinese company to the Entity List to prevent it from buying goods and services in the United States, to keep it from profiting from the technology it stole.
And today the Department of Justice is filing a civil action to seek an injunction that would prevent the Chinese and Taiwan companies from transferring the stolen technology, or exporting products based on it to the United States.
We are not just reacting to crimes—we are acting to block the defendants from doing any more harm to our U.S. based company, Micron. . . .
As the cases I’ve discussed have shown, Chinese economic espionage against the United States has been increasing—and it has been increasing rapidly.
We are here today to say: enough is enough. We’re not going to take it anymore.
It is unacceptable. It is time for China to join the community of lawful nations. International trade has been good for China, but the cheating must stop. And we must have more law enforcement cooperation; China cannot be a safe haven for criminals who run to China when they are in trouble, never to be extradited. . . .
I am announcing that I have ordered the creation of a China Initiative led by Assistant Attorney General John Demers, who heads our National Security Division . . . .
This Initiative will identify priority Chinese trade theft cases, ensure that we have enough resources dedicated to them, and make sure that we bring them to an appropriate conclusion quickly and effectively. . . .
This will help us meet the new and evolving threats to our economy. Today, we see Chinese espionage not just taking place against traditional targets like our defense and intelligence agencies, but against targets like research labs and universities, and we see Chinese propaganda disseminated on our campuses.
And so I have directed this initiative to focus on these problems as well and to recommend legislation to Congress if necessary.
China—like any advanced nation—must decide whether it wants to be a trusted partner on the world stage—or whether it wants to be known around the world as a dishonest regime running a corrupt economy founded on fraud, theft, and strong-arm tactics. Our wish is to have a trusted partner.
The President has made clear that this country remains open to friendship and productive relationships with China. Nothing is more important for the world. We want our relationships to improve, not get worse.
But these problems must be solved. These threats must be ended.
This Department of Justice—and the Trump administration—have already made our decision: we will not allow our sovereignty to be disrespected, our intellectual property to be stolen, or our people to be robbed of their hard-earned prosperity. We want fair trade and good relationships based on honest dealing. We will enforce our laws—and we will protect America’s national interests.
Emphasis added
For those Taiwan and Chinese individuals that believe that they cannot be touched by Justice Department warrants in the United States, another think coming. As Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Criminal Division stated on November 1, 2018 in the attached statement, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCEMENT IP THEFT:
The Criminal Division fully supports the Attorney General’s initiative to counter Chinese economic aggression. Every day, the Chinese engage in efforts to steal American trade secrets and commit other illegal acts intended to enrich their economy at the expense of American businesses. . . .
We see it time and again: Chinese actors have stolen wind turbine technology in Wisconsin, agricultural research in Kansas, cancer drug research in Pennsylvania, and software source code in New York.
Wherever we see examples of this kind of criminal behavior, the Department will investigate it and prosecute it to the fullest extent possible. We also will continue to work hard to ensure that offenders face justice in U.S. courts.
Our Office of International Affairs is the focal point for all extraditions around the globe. In just the past few years, the Department has successfully extradited nine Chinese individuals, including two for theft of trade secrets. Long prison terms for these offenders help to create much-needed deterrence. . . .
Emphasis added.
Although Chinese individuals may not be touched in China, once they leave the country and go to Europe or any other country, Justice Department extradition warrants can easily take hold. The individual may find himself arrested on entry to Europe or some other country based on a US extradition warrant.
Taiwan individuals are subject to Justice Department extradition warrants, as are Hong Kong individuals. In an antitrust case for price fixing of LCDs against many Taiwan high tech companies, Taiwan extradited high ranking company officials to the United States to face prison time. Two executives at AU Optronics were sentenced to three years in Federal Prison and served the time.
As Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers further stated on November 1, 2018 in the attached statement, ANOTHER JUSTICE DEP ANNOUNCE IP THEFT:
Just two days ago, in United States v. Zhang Zhang-Gui, et al., we charged ten defendants, including co- opted company insiders, working for or acting on behalf of the Jiangsu Ministry of State Security, also known as the “JSSD,” an arm of the Chinese intelligence services. According to the charging documents from the Southern District of California, the defendants conspired to hack U.S. and European defense and aerospace contractors in order to steal information to develop a Chinese version of a commercial airplane turbofan engine.
Just over three weeks ago, in the Southern District of Ohio, we obtained the extradition of a JSSD intelligence officer who was also alleged to have attempted to co-opt an employee of a defense contractor in order to steal trade secrets related to commercial airplane engines.
In September, in the Northern District of Illinois, we charged an individual here in the United States who acted as a source for a JSSD intelligence officer, helping him, among other things, to assess engineers and scientists for recruitment.
In August, in the Northern District of New York, we charged an individual with stealing turbine technology and sending it to China.
And so it goes.
Taken together, these cases, and many others like them, paint a grim picture of a country bent on stealing its way up the ladder of economic development—and doing so at American expense. This behavior is illegal. It’s wrong. It’s a threat to our national security. And it must stop. . . .
On November 16, 2018, the LA Times, a well-known Democratic newspaper, in an article entitled” China has taken the gloves off in its theft of U.S. Technology secrets”¸ http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-china-economic-espionage-20181116-story.html, stated:
“They want technology by hook or by crook. They want it now. The spy game has always been a gentleman’s game, but China has taken the gloves off,” said John Bennett, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office, which battles economic spies targeting Silicon Valley.
“They don’t care if they get caught or if people go to jail. As long as it justifies their ends, they are not going to stop.” . . .
Alperovitch and U.S. officials also have noticed a shift in who is behind the attacks. China’s military is no longer directing the bulk of the hacks. It appears China’s chief civilian intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security, has taken the lead instead.
The trend is troubling because the spy service employs more sophisticated and seasoned hackers than the military . . . .
“The problem here is the scale and scope of the threat,” said John Demers, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for national security. ”It is both impressive and frightening. The Chinese are methodical, persistent and well- resourced. It’s a concerted effort to steal and gather the know-how to produce . . . .”
MIDTERM ELECTIONS WILL NOT SAVE CHINA—IP THEFT AND FORCED TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER HAVE UNITED THE REPUBLICANS AND THE DEMOCRATS IN WASHINGTON DC
The Chinese government may think that the Democratic Victory in the House of Representatives in the Midterm Elections will save China. But as these newsletters have been saying for years, the only one more tough on China than Donald Trump and the Republicans is the Democrats.
The new Speaker of the House is Nancy Pelosi. Many Chinese may not remember that Nancy Pelosi demonstrated in Tiananmen Square against the Chinese government in 1991. See https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-09-06-9103070091-story.html. Nancy Pelosi is no real friend of China.
On November 17, 2018, Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times Columnist and no friend of Donald Trump, in an article entitled “The Dangerous Naïveté of Trump and X” stated:
“Trump is right (I can’t believe I just wrote those three words!) that China has not played fair. The best response would have been to work with allies to pressure China simultaneously from all sides; instead, Trump antagonized allies so that we are fighting this battle alone.
Why have I and so many others soured on China?
This is larger than Trump and Xi. China’s admission to the World Trade Organization in 2001 was meant to integrate the country into the global trading system as an increasingly responsible world power. But after moving mostly in the right direction under Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, China stalled under Hu Jintao and has moved backward under Xi.
China has stolen technology and intellectual property even as it has become more aggressive militarily in the South China Sea and curbed freedom at home. Xi offends global values by detaining more than one million Muslims in the Xinjiang region, arresting lawyers and Christians, and steadily squeezing out space for free thought. I used to report from China each year but now find the limits on a journalist visa so onerous that it’s not worthwhile. And I’m supposed to be the lao pengyou, or old friend, of China.”
On November 8, 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported on a November 7th speech in Singapore in an article by Greg Ip entitled “Henry Paulson Delivers a Sobering Message” that:
“Few people have championed U.S. engagement with China as forcefully or successfully as Henry Paulson, first at Goldman Sachs Group Inc ., later as Treasury Secretary, and now as elder statesman.
So when Mr . Paulson concludes engagement is failing and an “economic Iron Curtain” may soon descend between the two, it’s a sobering statement of the perilous state of relations between the two economic superpowers.
In a speech delivered Wednesday in Singapore, Mr. Paulson warns China its behavior has alienated American friends and unified the American public against it. He is less critical of the U.S. but nonetheless believes it has unrealistic expectations of China and of its own allies. If neither changes course, the result will be “a long winter in U.S.-China relations” and “systemic risk of monumental proportions.” . . .”
In 2006 Paulson became the Treasury Secretary for George W. Bush, where he pushed a US China initiative, the “strategic economic dialogue” because he believed that the US China economic relationship is the most important economic relationship in the World. He then founded the Paulson Institute to smooth bilateral relations with China.
In the attached speech, PAULSON SPEECH, at the November 7th Economic Forum in Singapore at which Wang Qishan and other high level Chinese officials attended, Paulson stated:
Today, this region must look warily at the prospect that what, until now, has been a healthy strategic competition will tip into a full-blown cold war. . . . .
Taken together, these and other drivers, such as China’s cyber practices and island building in the South China Sea, have fueled a new consensus in Washington that China is not just a strategic competitor but very possibly our major long-term adversary.
America’s longstanding “engagement” policy is now widely viewed as being of little use for its own sake. . . .
Unless these broader and deeper issues are addressed, we are in for a long winter in US-China relations.
Let’s just take the economics.
The United States played the decisive role in facilitating China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. Yet 17 years after China entered the WTO, China still has not opened its economy to foreign competition in so many areas. . . .
But it also helps explain why so many influential voices now argue for a “decoupling” of the two economies, especially with respect to technology- related trade and investment that will disrupt supply chains.
These arguments will not go away anytime soon.
They will drive a variety of new approaches from this administration and its successors.
Both Democrats and Republicans are saying so.
And this negative view of China unites politicians from both left and right who agree on nothing else. . . .
In large part because China has been slow to open its economy since it joined the WTO, the American business community has turned from advocate to skeptic and even opponent of past US policies toward China. American business doesn’t want a tariff war but it does want a more aggressive approach from our government.
How can it be that those who know China best, work there, do business there, make money there, and have advocated for productive relations in the past, are among those now arguing for more confrontation?
The answer lies in the story of stalled competition policy, and the slow pace of opening, over nearly two decades. . . .
It is not just that foreign technologies are being transferred and digested.
It is that they are being reworked so that foreign technologies become Chinese technologies through an indigenization process that many of the multinational CEOs I talk to believe is grossly unfair to the innovators and dreamers at the heart of their companies.
Pervasive technology theft, forced technology transfer, including within joint ventures, and different models of internet governance and cross-border data flows are also contributing factors. . . .
So, such a balkanization of technology could further harm global innovation, not to mention the competitiveness of firms around the world.
Meanwhile, the integration of people, especially the brightest young students, could also stall — as Washington potentially bans Chinese students from studying whole categories of science and engineering subjects.
If all this persists—across all four baskets of goods, capital, technology, and people—I fear that big parts of the global economy will ultimately be closed off to the free flow of investment and trade.
And that is why I now see the prospect of an Economic Iron Curtain—one that throws up new walls on each side and unmakes the global economy, as we have known it.
Emphasis added.
Although former Secretary Paulson talks about a general opening up of the Chinese economy, I believe that he has taken his eye off the ball. At the same Economic Conference Henry Kissinger stated that the both the US and China must tell the other country what the red lines are. The key red line in the 301 case and in US China economic policy in general is IP Theft and Forced Technology Transfer.
The fact that Republicans and Democrats are united in opposing China is illustrated by a November 4th Editorial in the Washington Post entitled “The US Must Take Action to Stop Chinese Industrial Espionage”, which stated:
“SPEAKING IN the White House Rose Garden in September 2015, Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping announced a breakthrough. The United States and China pledged that neither nation “will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information for commercial advantage.” But Mr. Xi’s promises were flimsy and short-lived. The agreement has collapsed. China is again trying to steal its way to greatness, and that calls for a resolute response.
The latest sign of trouble, but hardly the only sign, came in the indictments unsealed last week by the Justice Department. The United States charged that a state-owned Chinese company attempted to steal trade secrets from Micron, a semiconductor company based in Idaho that is the only U.S. maker of “dynamic random-access memory,” or DRAM, vital memory chips for computers, mobile devices and other electronics. . . .
China lacked DRAM technology until recently, and the Micron case is another example of China’s quest to climb the ladder of economic development by stealing overseas technology and copying, re-engineering and manufacturing it, leapfrogging what would otherwise be decades of difficult and expensive work. This is not the sort of espionage seeking state secrets that all countries undertake, but a very targeted stealing to help China’s companies profit and conquer markets. The companies also receive robust capital infusions from the state. After the 2015 Rose Garden announcement, the Chinese stealing subsided for a while, so fewer U.S. companies were hit, but then the pace accelerated again in 2017.
Mr. Sessions insisted that “cheating must stop.” Mr. Obama had also insisted: “I indicated that it has to stop.” In fact, China’s industrial espionage is not a passing fancy but the pillar of a long-term drive to become a global economic, military and political power, with ambitions to rival the United States. Sadly, the hopes of the past two decades, that Beijing would become a fair competitor playing by international rules, have been dashed.
It is a good first response to indict the perpetrators in the Micron case, and for Mr. Sessions to bolster resources and attention to the threat. Beyond that, however, the United States must see the Chinese espionage for what it truly represents: the pursuit of superpower might by stealing the labor and investment of others. The economies of the United States and China are inexorably entwined, which will make confronting the espionage threat even harder. But it must be done. In the end, China will respond only to compulsion.
Emphasis added
The key point of the Washington Post editorial is that the Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and a good Democrat. The Washington Post is a very pro- Democratic newspaper. When the Washington Post is saying that the only way to end China’s IP theft is “compulsion”, that means both Republicans and Democrats are saying the same thing. When two ends of a very divided nation unite against China, that is not good for China.
COALITION TO ISOLATE CHINA-OTHER COUNTRIES JUMP ON THE US IP TRAIN
Although many Chinese believe that the only country pushing back on China is the United States, that simply is incorrect. In July 2018 Jean Claude Juncker, the European Commission President, met with President Trump to discuss a potential trade war. Juncker made it clear that he came to Washington to make a trade deal, and that the EC would work with the US against China on IP theft, forced technology transfer and overcapacity.
At the end of the recently negotiated US Mexico Canada Trade Agreement, there is a specific Article 32.10 “Non-Market Country FTA”, which provides that “a Party shall inform the other Parties of its intention to commence free trade agreement negotiations with a non-market country.” China is a non-market country.
Section 32.10 (3) goes on to provide:
“Entry by any Party into a free trade agreement with a non-market country, shall allow the other Parties to terminate this Agreement on six-month notice and replace this Agreement with an agreement as between them (bilateral agreement).”
In other words, if Canada or Mexico negotiate a FTA with China, the United States can terminate the new Mexico Canada Trade Agreement.
Also as indicated above, China stole Japanese technology for the high speed rail network. In all likelihood, Japan will work with the US and other countries to oppose China’s policy of IP theft and Forced Technology Transfer. On IP, China will face a united front by the US, EC, Canada, Mexico, Japan and probably Korea against it.
XI TRUMP MEETING END OF NOVEMBER at G-20
President Xi and President Trump are expected to meet on the side of the G-20 meeting in Buenos Ares, Argentina on Nov 30 to December 1st. As indicated above, the recent proposal from the Chinese government appears to be only an outline of the areas the Chinese government is willing to negotiate on and the areas it is not willing to negotiate on.
If the Chinese proposal was a concrete proposal and action plan, the Chinese government would be meeting now with the United States Trade Representative. Until USTR Lighthizer is involved in the US China negotiations, I do not expect any deal to get done.
The question is whether Xi Trump meeting can lead to a detailed outline of the areas of negotiation to the extent that Trump is willing to postpone the increase on tariffs to 25% on January 1st. There is no indication that the United States and China are anywhere near that stage.
On November 19, 2018, the South China Morning Post published the attached article, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2174026/after-apec-tensions-expect-extra-pressure-when-xi-jinping-and, about how the recent APEC meeting has put even more pressure on the Trump/Xi meeting at the end of November at the G-20:
After Apec tensions, expect ‘extra pressure’ when Xi Jinping and Donald Trump meet at G20 . . .
Atmosphere described as ‘extremely tense’ at Pacific nations summit, and observers say it reflects reality of rivalry between China and the US. Washington will be seeking to maximise pressure on Beijing ahead of crunch meeting at G20 summit, according to analysts
Beijing should prepare for tough talks when Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump meet at the G20 summit after open hostility between the two nations at the Apec gathering, observers say.
That hostility resulted in the 21 Pacific Rim leaders for the first time failing to reach a consensus on a formal declaration at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Port Moresby over the weekend, and it is expected to overshadow future trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington.
The rift was on full display when Xi and US Vice-President Mike Pence traded barbs at the summit on Saturday, neither of them listening to each other’s speeches and both lashing out about the trade war, Xi attacking America’s protectionism and Pence taking aim at Beijing’s “Belt and Road Initiative”.
Three delegates from Papua New Guinea described the atmosphere between China and the United States at the summit as “extremely tense”.
Chinese delegates on Saturday left the hall after Xi made his speech, and before Pence gave his.
“Some left the venue, but those who were still at the venue were just standing outside the hall – they chose not to listen to Pence’s speech,” one of the delegates from Papua New Guinea said. . . .
Liu Weidong, a China-US affairs specialist from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said while the trade war was hurting both China and the US, Beijing may face more pressure.
“This meeting [between Xi and Trump] means more to China than to the US, but negotiators and decision-makers from both sides will come under extra pressure in the next fortnight.”
Xi has tried to position China as a champion of free trade in the face of Trump’s “America first” protectionism, but according to analysts he will have a difficult time convincing leaders of major powers like Germany, France and the European Union, who share many of Washington’s concerns about China – even if they are worried about being caught in the middle.
“Beijing needs to be prepared,” Liu said. “[The Western powers] may not firmly stand with either China or the US, but they would tacitly approve of some of the US measures that could further press China.”
Liu added that Beijing would have to do something about intellectual property rights protection and lower tariffs to end the trade war.
It is interesting to note that Liu is from the same Academy of Social Sciences that says that stealing the high speed rail technology is the way China should proceed in the future.
Moreover, the fact that the Chinese side refused to even listen to Pence’s speech indicates how far the countries are to any resolution. If one side refuses to even listen to the arguments, no resolution can be reached.
IN XIAO SHI DA
My hope and prayer is that China truly wants to be a friendly competitor with the United States, not a strategic rival or even an adversary.
Four-character Chinese sayings are an old form of conveying deep thoughts about China. This situation reminds me of the old Chinese saying, “In Xiao Shi Da”, because of the little, lose the big. Because of the Chinese desire to steal foreign technology, Chinese companies may lose the entire US market, the $500 billion plus US market. The Chinese government’s actions may result in Chinese exports being shut out of the US market for years at the cost of trillions of US dollars.
GUO TUI MIN JIN BECOMES GUO JIN MIN TUI
Meanwhile, the Chinese economy appears to be changing from a private economy with a smaller state-owned economy to an economy dominated by State-Owned companies. When China joined the WTO, China’s economic genius was Zhu Rongyi. In the following November 14th article, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2173020/inside-story-propaganda-fightback-deng-xiaopings-market-reforms, the South China Morning Post states that the reason Zhu came to power was Deng Xiaoping. As the article states:
“Liu, who had first-hand knowledge of the articles, said Deng was spending the Lunar New Year holiday in Shanghai in 1991 when he asked then Shanghai party boss Zhu Rongji to go to the Xijiao Hotel where he was staying.
“He summoned Zhu Rongji and talked about the market economy and reform. It was a personal conversation. It was in- depth and not the official line. It was the true thoughts [of Deng] – that is, if you want to reform you have to introduce a market economy,” he said.
Liu said Zhu was very excited that Deng confided his thoughts to him, and relayed the conversation to his secretary and Shi Zhihong in the car on their way back from the hotel.”
At the time that China joined the WTO and Premier Zhu was in charge, the four character saying was “Guo Tui Min Jin”, “State-Owned phase out, private sector phase in”. The new four character saying under Xi Jinping is “Guo Jin Min Tui”, “State Owned phase in, private sector phase out”.
In the attached November 19th article, https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2173678/can-communist-partys-unprecedented-endorsement-calm-frayed-nerves, the South China Morning Post is asking whether the Chinese government is suffocating the private industry:
Private entrepreneurs have borne the brunt of Beijing’s diktats, everything from a policy to cut excess industrial capacity in steel and coal, to crackdowns on corruption and pollution, with non-state companies forming nearly all of the 11,000 firms that vanished since 2016, China Merchants Bank International’s chief economist Ding Anhua said in September.
Profit growth is plunging at private enterprises. Bond defaults have surged to a new high. Scores of listed companies have sold controlling stakes to the government for a financial lifeline this year. And a string of China’s richest businessmen have been swept up in corruption probes.
The last straw that sent public sentiment tumbling came in September, when an obscure blogger named Wu Xiaoping wrote that the private sector “had completed its historic mission” of reinvigorating state-owned enterprises, and should now “fade away.”
The essay, which brought back memories of Mao Zedong’s purge of capitalists half a century before, went immediately viral on China’s internet, riding on widespread fears that such radical thinking might be re-emerging. . . .
But many are sceptical that Xi’s prescription is enough to calm jitters in the business community. Nor enough to answer the high-stakes question hovering: is the powerful state suffocating the most dynamic, vigorous part of China’s economy, at the very time when growth is slowing down amid a trade war with the world’s largest economy?
“Private enterprises are in a dire moment now,” said Sheng Hong, executive director of the independent Chinese think tank Unirule Institute of Economics. “The country could risk a great recession.” . . . .
The private sector accounts for 60 per cent of China’s gross domestic product and 80 per cent of jobs, according to official statistics.
But figures could be even higher by independent estimates. A study led by Sheng of Unirule concluded that more than 90 per cent of the newly added national output since 2016 came from the private sector, which is also the source of all new jobs created since 2000. . . .
Corporate taxes account for 67 per cent of all commercial profits, the 12th highest tax in 190 economies, much higher than the 44 per cent in the US or the 31 per cent in the UK, according to the World Bank.
In contrast to private owned companies, state owned companies pay almost no taxes at all.
The United States and many countries fear that the new Chinese model is to focus on the State-Owned industry, funnel government monety to those state-owned companies to target foreign technology.
TSUNAMI, BIG WAVE, OF CHANGE US IMPORTERS, FOREIGN COMPANIES AND EVEN CHINESE COMPANIES MOVE TO THIRD COUNTRIES TO ESCAPE TRADE WAR
The US China trade war along with the internal war in China against private industry, however, have led to a tsunami, tidal wave, of change as US Importers look for second sources of supply, and US and foreign companies in China and even private Chinese companies look to move some or all of their production out of China to third countries.
WE CAN HELP
Because of this tidal wave of change, my firm has formed alliances with consultants on the ground in Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and even Ukraine to help companies find second sources of supply in those countries. We are now working with consultants on the ground in those countries to help find second sources of supply and set up manufacturing sites.
Steve Dickinson and other partners at Harris have substantial experience drafting supplier contracts for US importers to minimize risk, and drafting contracts to set up manufacturing operations in other countries. The Trade and Customs group can also help importers meet the requirements under the trade and customs laws and General System of Preferences so as to reduce and in the case of GSP eliminate ordinary Customs duties on imported products.
SECTION 301 PROCEDURES
As to the procedures in the Section 301 case, please see my last blog post at https://uschinatradewar.com/us-china-trade-war-trump-trade-war-speech-301-tariff-200-billion-in-imports-301-product-exclusion-process-widening-ad-cvd-orders-exclusions-section-201-nafta-us-eu-agreement-new-ad-case/ for a detailed explanation of the 301 case, three outstanding lists and opportunity to request a product exclusion request.
There are presently three separate lists. Depending upon which list imports are on, different options are available.
List 1 is for the 25% tariff on the initial $34 billion in imports, FIRST SET OF $34 BILLION. If your imported product is on this list, your only option was to file a product exclusion request by October 9th. According to a November 12th Politico article, to date:
“U.S. companies have filed close to 10,000 requests for certain products to be excluded from a 25 percent tariff that Trump imposed on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods in July. . . . About 816 of requests have been denied and around 370 have been tentatively approved, subject to a final sign-off by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The others are still in either Stage 1 or Stage 2 of the review process.”
List 2 is for the 25% on the $16 billion in imports, USTR OFFICIAL $16 BILLION PRESS RELEASE. If your products are on that list, the 25% tariffs took effect on August 23rd. Your only option is to file a product exclusion request by December 18th. According to the November 12th Politico article:
“Companies have also filed close to 500 requests for products to be excluded from a second batch of tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods that went into effect in August.
List 3 is for the 25% on the $200 billion in imports, $200 BILLION USTR NOTICE. No exclusion process has been set up yet for products on the $200 billion list.
BRIEF COMMENTS ON NEW NAFTA NOW US MEXICO CANADA TRADE AGREEMENT
As many will know because of the press updates, the United States and Canada reached agreement with Mexico on a New NAFTA, now known as the USMCA, the US Mexico Canada Agreement. To see the text of the New USMCA go to this link at the United States Trade Representative, https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement/united-states-mexico.
Note that the term “Free Trade” has been removed. Trump has made one point clear in these trade negotiations. Despite the fancy statements, these trade agreements are not “free trade agreements”. They are government managed trade.
If the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) were truly a free trade agreement, Canada would not have had 275% tariffs on exports of dairy products to Canada.
But the US Mexico Canada Trade Agreement (“USMCA”) does have many changes and yes, the US is a beneficiary.
Besides the Nonmarket Economy Provision mentioned above, the new agreement reduces substantially the 275% on US dairy product exports to Canada.
With regards to automobiles, North American content goes up to 75%,
There is also a requirement that to qualify for North American content, the labor wages must be $16 an hour or higher, which means less jobs going to Mexico.
Another area, which is near and dear to my heart, is that Canada and British Columbia have reduced its very high tariffs and import restrictions on US wine, including Washington State Wine.
The Agreement also provides for a sunset review. Ever six years, the three countries will meet to decide whether to keep the Agreement going and more importantly whether to re-negotiate certain provisions.
The Agreement will also expire in 16 years, which will lead again to more negotiations.
In other words, there are many changes in the US Mexico Canada Trade agreement and companies should follow the link above to see how the Agreement will affect each company.
If anyone has any questions about the Section 301 case, the trade war with China, IP Protection, movement to third countries, antidumping or countervailing duty law, customs laws and any other trade or customs questions, please feel free to contact me.
Best regards,
Bill Perry