Trump lays groundwork to preserve China tariffs

The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to preserve China’s unfavorable status in American trade cases, a step likely to ensure Chinese goods are eligible for higher tariffs in the US well into the future. Officials are preparing a review of China’s “market-economy status” under the World Trade Organization, The Wall Street Journal reports. The review is expected to be announced as early as this week, just days before a high-stakes meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump. Beijing has said members of the WTO were required to start treating it as a market economy in December 2016, on the 15th anniversary of its membership in the Geneva-based body that oversees global trade. The Commerce Department linked the notice of its review to a new case in which it is investigating possible aluminum-foil dumping by China.