The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), responsible for developing and coordinating US international trade, commodity and direct investment policy, and for overseeing negotiations with other countries, has announced that the United States and China have signed an agreement terminating the export subsidies China has provided through its “Demonstration Bases-Common Service Platform” program.
According to the USTR, under this program China seems to provide prohibited export subsidies through common service platforms to manufacturers and producers across seven economic sectors, including the iron and steel industry, and dozens of sub-sectors, located in more than 179 industrial clusters known as demonstration bases.
The USTR stated that, following a dispute brought by the US before the World Trade Organization (WTO), China has effectively terminated the challenged program channeling export-contingent subsidies to Chinese enterprises in industrial clusters throughout China. Termination of prohibited export subsidies under the mentioned program will help level the playing field for American workers and businesses in the many affected sectors, according to the USTR.