Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Tweet[IWS] USCC: SHOULD CHINA JOIN THE WTO's SERVICES AGREEMENT? [11 March 2014]
IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC)
USCC Economic Issue Brief, No. 1 [11 March 2014]
SHOULD CHINA JOIN THE WTO's SERVICES AGREEMENT?
by Iaco Koch-Weser
http://origin.www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/USCC%20Economic%20Issue%20Brief_03.11.14.pdf
[full-text, 13 pages]
Key Points
China petitioned last October to join the Trade in Services Agreement, a side agreement in the WTO that entered its sixth round of talks in late February. The United States and other parties are considering whether to allow it to join.
U.S. companies could benefit, given the potential of services in China and signals that Beijing is willing to open up services (e.g. U.S.-China BIT, Shanghai Free Trade Zone, and Third Plenum Decision). But the recent failure of the WTO information technology talks, coupled with slow enactment of domestic reforms, raises doubts.
Some sectors in China's economy, such as construction and shipping, could immediately benefit. But most of China's services industries, both in consolidated and fragmented sectors, are uncompetitive and are likely to oppose liberalization.
China might be unwilling to make concessions on free data flows, given its growing preoccupation with cybersecurity and ongoing regime of internal censorship.
China may pursue TISA for economic reasons, but it may also seek to join the talks in order to thwart a U.S.-led trade agreement.
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