China filed a request with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish an expert group under the WTO dispute settlement framework regarding the US Section 232 measures on Thursday, expecting the expert group would be able to examine the case fairly and objectively to maintain the rules-based multilateral trading system, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Thursday.
Nine WTO members – Canada, China, the EU, India, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, and Turkey –have entered initial complaints, charging Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum infringed WTO rules, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
In response to questions on whether China is willing to make some concessions in negotiations with the US side, Gao Feng, a spokesperson with the MOC said China's position has been consistent. "If the United States shows sincerity, negotiations should be conducted on the basis of equality, integrity, and mutual respect."
China and the US have built deeply-intertwined economic and trade ties for 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, Gao told the press conference.
It is the market force and the result of joint efforts of the two governments and industries that contribute to such close relations, indicating the inevitable trend of the global industry chains distribution, Gao said.
"We believe such a trend will not be reversed," he added, noting that with strong complementarity China and the United States should "dispel the cloud" and achieve closer economic and trade cooperation to benefit businesses and peoples from both sides.
Commenting on more stringent rules on foreign investment review recently unveiled by the US Treasury Department, Gao said, for any country or industry, development will be achieved through opening-up and cooperation, while isolation will surely cause backwardness.
It is hoped that the new rules will not bring new uncertainties, or abuse the concept of "national security", but will create a fair, transparent and predictable environment for foreign investors, he noted.
(With input from Xinhua)
