The United States took action on Tuesday at the World Trade Organisation against Beijing for piracy and blocking access for US films, books and software. Charging that China was breaking its 2001 WTO entry agreement, Washington sought consultations with Beijing over the twin complaints, which could lead to a formal case being brought if no deal can be struck within 60 days.
"They have come in," a trade official said referring to the requests. President George W. Bush is under pressure from Congress over trade with China. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced on Monday that Washington intended to go to the WTO, saying "inadequate protection" of US intellectual property rights in China was costing US firms billions of dollars a year.
The US move came as congressional anger over last year's record $232 billion US trade deficit with China hampers efforts to win renewal of trade promotion authority, which the White House needs to finish negotiations on the WTO's Doha round of global free trade talks.
China said it regretted the decision and warned that it could seriously damage cooperation and hurt bilateral trade. Schwab said that action should not be viewed as hostile and denied the two countries risked slipping into a trade war.
Washington remained open to a negotiated settlement without going through the WTO, which could take 18 months or more, she added. China regularly defends its record on fighting piracy, saying it is a developing country and needs time. But pirated movies and music discs are openly sold in shops and on street corners in Chinese cities for as little as 8 yuan (about $1) a copy.
Trade lawyers in Geneva said that they doubted that Washington would risk bringing such politically high-profile cases without being pretty sure that it would win at the WTO. The United States has already brought complaints against what it sees as illegal Chinese industrial subsidies and, together with the European Union, against China's supposed restrictions on imports of auto parts.
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