Has the agreement between China and the US been fully implemented?

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Friday launched an investigation under Section 301 of the country’s trade law into the implementation of the economic and trade agreement between Washington and Beijing signed in 2019.

The statement from the office said: The US Trade Representative will review whether China has fully implemented its commitments under the Phase One Agreement; how much pressure or restriction China’s incomplete implementation of commitments has placed on US trade; and ultimately what measures should be taken in response.

The Office of the US Trade Representative emphasized that China had committed in 2019 to make structural changes to its policies and practices to correct disruptive practices and policies in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, and financial services.

The statement continued: “Five years after the implementation of this agreement, and despite repeated consultations between the United States and China to address concerns about its implementation, it appears that China has still not fulfilled its commitments in the areas of non-tariff barriers, market access, and purchases of American goods and services.”

The so-called “Phase One Agreement” was finalized in late 2019 and officially signed between China and the United States in January 2020; an agreement aimed at reducing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Under this agreement, China committed to purchasing a certain amount of American goods and services over a two-year period, and in return, the United States refrained from increasing some tariffs on Chinese goods.

The results of this research could affect the global economy