Emphasis on U.S. Exports, Trade Secrets in China Trade Deal

U.S. trade officials said the agreement would end a long-standing practice of China pressuring foreign companies to transfer technology to Chinese companies as a condition for obtaining market access. Lighthizer said China has also agreed to combat patent theft and counterfeit products, which would include forfeiting machinery used for making counterfeit products.

The 86-page agreement makes it easier to bring criminal cases in China against those accused of stealing trade secrets. It includes provisions designed to stop Chinese government officials from using administrative and regulatory procedures to ferret out foreign companies’ trade secrets and allowing that information to get into the hands of Chinese competitors…

China is required to increase its purchases of U.S. manufactured, energy and farm products and services by a combined $200 billion this year and next. The arrangement means that China is supposed to buy $40 billion in U.S. farm exports. That would be a windfall for Trump supporters in rural America but an ambitious goal considering that China has never bought more than $26 billion in U.S. agricultural products in a year.

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Article URL : https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/16/emphasis_on_us_exports_trade_secrets_in_china_trade_deal_142167.html