US, China officials clash at WTO policy review

U.S. and Chinese officials clashed Monday during a review of U.S. trade policy in Geneva.

Dennis Shea, the U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), attacked China’s “state-led, mercantilist approach” to trade, according to media reports.

{mosads}“The WTO is not well equipped to handle the fundamental challenge posed by China, which continues to embrace a state-led, mercantilist approach to the economy and trade,” Shea said, according to Reuters.

Shea also said the U.S. is hoping to reform the global trading system in a way that makes it fairer, The Associated Press reported.

China and the U.S. have been engaged in a trade war that President Trump has threatened to escalate even after the countries reached a 90-day truce at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina earlier this month.

The two countries have slapped billions of dollars in tariffs on each other’s goods in recent months, and Trump has threatened further tariffs against China. 

Chinese ambassador Zhang Xiangchen went after the U.S. at the review in Geneva, attacking the country over tariffs Trump has placed on certain products.

Zhang said Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum products were “based on dubious national security concerns,” according to the AP.