US toughens stance on China trade

Stopping short of asking the US Congress for support in imposing sanctions on Beijing, US Trade Representative Rob Portman outlined plans to get tough with China over trade in a report released Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Portman announced plans to establish a task force to examine possible WTO cases against China as part of a drive to focus more on Sino-US trade issues. He also expressed concern at China's failure to enforce intellectual property rights law and international labor standards, as well as criticizing industry subsidies and a series of trade barriers for contributing to the US$725.75 billion US trade deficit. Meanwhile, Beijing responded to US calls for a stronger yuan by asking Washington not to politicize the situation. Wu Xiaoling, vice governor of the People's Bank of China, argued that market forces were already driving the yuan, pointing to last week's record 0.14% rise in the yuan against the dollar.