US denies China market economy status

The Obama administration has decided it won’t grant China the official market-economy status Beijing thinks it deserves, a move sure to raise tension, as China pushes the US and other countries to ratchet down import tariffs. China contends Washington and other members of the World Trade Organization should grant it market-economy status on Sunday, the 15th-anniversary of its WTO accession, under the terms of its joining the group. But the Obama administration disagrees, with a senior official saying the US will not change China’s status, according to The Wall Street Journal.  Market-economy status can dramatically lower tariffs WTO members can apply in cases charging another country with violating trade terms. The incoming Donald Trump White House isn’t likely to reverse the Obama administration’s decision