Guide to Less Than Full Time Training - North West School of ...

TZIEROPOULOS 2Ten Years Behind NME Lines, and Beyondsurface of WTO. At last, the story of China's accession is a sharp reminder that what countriessay and what they actually do is often very different.More significantly, the example of China's accession provides a formidable insight ofthe major shifts that the global economy has witnessed in the last 25 years. With theincreasing irrelevance of tariffs and the rise of global supply-chains fueled by emergingeconomies, the industrialized nations have been struggling to maintain their dominant positionin sectors where they no longer have a comparative advantage. A minor economy in 1980,China has since grown at a sustained rate to become the world's second largest trader in 2009.Trade relations between China and the world reflect these changing economic dynamics, andalso exemplify changing political discourses from both sides. At the core, the issue underlyingthese changes is how to deal with the Chinese 'hybrid' economy and its gargantuanproportions. One of the goals of this paper is to show that powerful actors have attempted touse the multilateral trading system to curb the Chinese expansion, and to discuss theshortcomings of this approach. Finally, this case study depicts the growing assertiveness ofChina in an increasingly multipolar world and the implications it may entail, shouldprotectionist approaches be pursued from now on.With a view to examine these questions, this paper will first address the process ofaccession in a historical perspective. The first chapter describes the Chinese political contextand trade relations, in particular with the United States, during the negotiations. The chapterconcludes by an outline of China's Protocol of Accession. The second chapter addresses traderemedies (i.e. antidumping and anti-subsidization) in 'China's WTO'. By reviewing theeconomics, politics and regulations of antidumping and countervailing duties, this papershows that they can be strongly presumed to be used towards protectionist ends. This chapterdiscusses in detail the specific provisions of the Protocol of Accession which may be usedagainst Chinese imports, with a particular emphasis on China's 'non-market economy' ('NME')status, and finds that these have a strong discriminatory bias. Finally, the second chapter takesstock of the different strategies adopted by China in response to its differential treatment intrade remedies investigations.* * *