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Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has reduced or removed many of its earlier barriers to trade and investment, the study notes. The liberalization of China’s trade regime has meant a vast increase in the opportunities for U.S. exporters of services. At around $70 billion, China’s market for services is already the world’s sixth largest, and can be expected to grow with the expansion of the economy.
“China’s compliance with its trade obligations is a serious matter,” said Dr. VanGrasstek. “We need to maintain appropriate pressure to ensure that China lives up to its WTO commitments. But we must also recognize that there are enormous long-term opportunities for American business in the services sector. Policy makers need to be aware that precipitous, unilateral actions could undermine our most successful exports, many of which are in services.”
The United States Council Foundation is an educational foundation affiliated with the United States Council for International Business, a leading pro-trade group whose members include many of America’s top global companies.
China acceded to the WTO in 2001, the same year that the United States extended permanent normal trade relations to China. “A market that was once protected by high tariff walls and discriminatory restrictions on foreign investment is now in transition, and becoming much more open to business,” the study points out. Some of the most significant Chinese commitments, such as the final phase-ins for banking, architectural and engineering services, are scheduled to be fulfilled by the end of this year, it notes.
The study includes three case studies offering concrete examples of how services trade with China is growing, looking at the experiences of UPS, EDS and Citigroup. Access to the Chinese market benefits not only these firms, but also their partners in the United States. Their presence in China connects U.S. companies to producers that operate in China, and also to an emerging Chinese middle class.
Copies of the study are available free of charge by calling (212) 703-5063 or by e-mailing news@uscib.org. The views expressed in the report are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Council for International Business or the United States Council Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.
USCIB promotes an open system of global commerce in which business can flourish and contribute to economic growth, human welfare and protection of the environment. More information is available at www.uscib.org.
Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
(212) 703-5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org
United States Council Foundation study: “The Benefits of U.S.-China Trade in Services”
More on USCIB’s China Committee
More on USCIB’s Trade Policy Committee
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